Dec 18, 2012

Find Home Inspectors To Inspect Your Home In Flushing

Society
Society (Photo credit: ultrakml)


Flushing home inspectors are trained to inspect your home to inform you about conditions you may not be able to see on the surface. A home inspector is normally trained to inspect certain areas a home owner may not be able to get to easily, such as underneath floorboards, roof shingles, and pipes and air ducts in the home.

It’s very important that you hire a home inspector if you’re selling your home so that individuals looking to buy your home can know exactly what condition your home is in. Hiring a home inspector before you sell your home will also allow you to see exactly what needs to be fixed, so you can arrange to make the necessary repairs before you put your home on the market.

It is recommended that you follow the inspector through your home during the inspection, so you will be aware of any procedures performed and damage discovered. At the end of the inspection, you should receive a detailed description of exactly what was done to your home. Here are some general procedures you should definitely have a home inspector perform during your appointment:

STRUCTURE CHECKS
Flushing home inspectors check the structure of your home to make sure that the home’s foundation is sturdy and that materials used in the building of the home are not corroded or weak. Floors, framing, roofing and walls are all checked during this part of the home inspection.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS
Your electrical system will be checked for safety. Any wires, outlets (and potentially outdoor fixtures like lanterns), and adapters in your home will be evaluated for loose wires and shortages. A home inspector will also be able to assess how much longer you can utilize your current electrical system before having to make any repairs. If necessary, a home inspector may also recommend an electrical upgrade.

AIR CONDITIONING AND HEATING SYSTEMS
Your heating and air conditioning system should also be checked to make sure it can be set to comfortable levels and isn’t malfunctioning. A home inspector may recommend minor repairs and adjustments within a budget, depending on how old your system is.

PLUMBING
Home inspectors will look at all the pipes in your home to check for breaks or leakage. The inspector may also check pipes for sanitation and to make sure there is no possibility of overflow or vulnerability to freezing. Your water heating system and laundry equipment will be looked at as well, and a home inspector will make sure the water pressure in your bathrooms and kitchen are at normal levels.

At the end of the home inspection, you should receive a detailed description of all the services performed in your home that day, all recommendations for repairs and an overall summary of the condition of your home. 

Be sure to show this information to your real estate agent if you are selling your home, as this will affect the price at which you should sell your home. If you’re looking at homes to buy, make sure that each home you choose to look at has had a home inspection. You can find Flushing home inspectors online, from local phone book listings or through your real estate agent.

Dec 3, 2012

Texas Bush and Tony Blair

Tony Blair
British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has as good as admitted that US/UK foreign policy is failing to achieve its objectives in the Middle East. He is absolutely right. He might as well have come clean on the Iraq invasion and called that a failure as well. After all it was a pretty important piece of that policy.

Since 9/11, The US under Texas native George Bush has pursued a bit of a strange foreign policy - by invading Iraq and naming a list of countries as part of an axis of evil. Then there's the whole Guantanamo Bay episode, which is still going on. Its Middle Eastern policy has been particularly meddlesome. Of course Blair, often against his own better judgement and that of his colleagues, has supported the Texan Longhorn clothes bearing Bush to the bitter end. Quite naturally, there has been a radical reaction to this. It has helped extremism flourish across the Middle East, Asia and even in Europe like never before.

The West is losing this war and as Blair admits military action alone can't turn the tables - if anything it has achieved the opposite so far. He talks about a battle of ideas between the values of the West and those of extremism. Unfortunately, for millions of Muslims across the world it's an argument he has already lost. To them Texas Bush and Blair don't debate or argue their ideas, but impose them at the barrel of a gun. As evidence, they point to Iraq, Afghanistan and now Lebanon with Israel doing the dirty work with full Anglo-American support. Of course this plays into the hands of the extremists who argue that force and violence is the only way to respond.

If The US and Britain want to win a battle of ideas with the extremists they need to radically change their foreign policy for a start. Given that both are caught up in their own self-made disasters, which now have a momentum of their own, that would be very difficult. But they must find a way. They need to tone down the rhetoric and at the very least make Afghanistan work. That means putting in the dollars and pounds to build infrastructure and improve the living standards of the average Afghan. That would do far more to win hearts and minds than endless speeches about values and democracy.

With Lebanon they must talk to Iran and Syria who pull Hezbollah's puppet strings and where necessary force Israel to make compromises as well. At the very least call for an immediate ceasefire so the battle can be faught at a conference table rather than over the dead bodies of innocent civilians.

As for Iraq, because the post invasion plans were so botched and ill thought out, the country is practically in melt down. Regardless of Blair's comments, it is in a state of civil war with around 100 people dying a day.

We largely have "Rambo" Rumsfeld to thank for that. It was his idea to do invasion "lite" followed by occupation "lite." Disbanding the army and sacking Baath party members, who ran the country, was stupid and suicidal. It created thousands of angry vindictive and well armed individuals at a stroke. People who have no stake or interest in the new democratic Iraq. Protecting the oil installations while the public infrastructure was looted - at least the bits left by the USAF, did little to win hearts and minds either. Despite so much incompetence, "Rambo Rummy" still has job in government and sadly it isn't cleaning the toilets.

Iraq's fate is probably to end up being run by a brutal dictator again. The only question is: will he be an Islamic fundamentalist? Or a secular dictator like Saddam Hussein was? The alternative is that country could simply break up into regions variously controlled by Iran, Syria and the Kurds or who ever else can impose their influence.

For the situation to improve and for there to be any chance of a debate of ideas to take place, it probably requires the removal of Bush the Texan and Blair from office. A change of government would be even better. A new government could at least admit the failures, blame them on the previous administration and fashion a new much less confrontational foreign policy. But that could take two to three years to happen. In the meantime, the war on terror could simply escalate leaving the different players more hardened and committed to their radical agendas. Basically, leaving no room to debate ideas or win over hearts and minds.