Going to the moon again is causing far more controversy today than it could have back in the sixties. Some Americans doubt we can afford it and others are not sure they have seen the “giant leap for mankind” that the first moon shot promised. It depends on who you ask but don’t dare ask me. I didn’t think the first moon landing had much significance for reasons that few people share with me.

President Bush announced an ambitious plan to return to the moon by 2013-15 near the birthplace of modern flight, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The centenary of flight celebrations was held in Kill Devil Hills in December of 2003 where the President will announced plans to allow NASA to offer up its best to the effort. With funding from congress to supplement their 15.5 billion dollar existing budget NASA will have to do a great deal of aggressive re-tooling and budget squeezing to pull it off by the proposed deadline.

I have talked to MIT and Harvard grads who still think that if a rocket whizzes by you in space it makes a whooshing sound much like a jet craft does in the atmosphere. Someone forgot to tell them there is no sound where there is no air. So what, you say?

Some of these grads are aware that even if we could travel at warp 9 (Star Trek’s imaginary multiplication of the speed of light) that it would take about one hundred thousand years to make the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy and upon return, the earth would be about 1.2 million years older than it is today. But why harp on the small stuff.

Only once since I began a twenty year fascination with Einstein’s time/light theory have I heard from anyone connected to NASA who dared to address this fact to a sublimely ignorant public. He was hushed up in the slow lane with indifference and a public that couldn’t tell you how the world can make it through the next decade without imploding. With a list of almost infinite problems how can we think of getting people out that far, much less plan for the return of our astronauts after 4000 generations of time.

I’m not anti-science, in fact I think our world has only improved because of it. But science should be no less immune from a serious reality check than was the church in the dark ages. I believe in the bible , and I’m sure it gives us only a very short time to the second coming of Christ. But even at that I would never put the bible against science. I am satisfied that science is the book of how, and the bible is the book of why.

Being a bible believing Christian I also have another view about space travel. It is hard to believe that every Christian may not agree with me. Until the cost of getting to the moon is more affordable if ever, I think the money could be spent more effectively right here on earth and we could be satisfied with singing the official state song of Vermont which is Moonlight in Vermont.

Almost every starving child in the world could be fed and clothed for a decade for the cost of sending up only one moon shot. My bible, my conscience, my common sense and every bone in my body says that would be a far better way to spend the fifteen billion bucks.

I know there are those who will think this is a preposterous proposal and perhaps it is. So I will offer yet one more proposal that I think is on the same level as sticking America with a fifteen billion dollar bill just to bring back a few moon rocks. We could look for that cow, you know, the one who jumped over the moon. We could train his aim for a while so he could hit the darned moon next time. He could jump back with the rocks and dust for our scientists to look over and we’d save a bundle of taxpayers cash.

“Blue moon I saw you standing alone, without a dream in your heart” Watch out, we’re back!

Michael Bresciani is a columnist for several online daily news sites. He has authored two books. His newest book “An American Prophet and His Message” is said to be the clearest treatment of the second coming of Christ in this generation. Visit his website at:
americanprophet.org

A lot of people don’t look at eyewear as a fashion item. They are also a necessity you don’t wish to upgrade often or wear when ]they result in discomfort. There are key differences between rimless, rimmed and semi-rimless glasses that make for benefits which it would be useful to know before trying to find the right eyeglasses. This way, you can choose the pair right on the first try without the stress! Children and those who require hard wearing property will of course appreciate to the fullest the strength and stability inherent in eyewear with full rimmed eyeglass frames. Rimmed eyewear provide an additional benefit in terms of style. Wider frames, sharper fashions, and a simply broader approach to design are provided for for by the continuity of the design. You can choose either polycarbonate or glass lenses according to your budget. These tend to be the best priced frames and some find themselves more at home sporting them.

Semi-rimless eyewear are frequently used to create an upmarket appearance. Slim faces benefit from the use of a frame running only around the top or bottom of the spectacles. Take the best each can offer by combining greater strength and stability with lightweight eyewear. They will also add a little je ne sais quoi to your appearance. That said, if your prescription makes for a thicker lens, you may wish to choose a full rim just because the lens edge will be distinctly visible. Finally, the best choice is polycarbonate lenses when your frames are semi-rimless because of the lack of protection for their edges. If you take a slim lens you find an excellent selection in rimless glasses. Blending in remarkably with your face and available in an unlimited assortment of lens shapes, they’re lightweight and comfortable. Although these are pricey, they are also not as sturdy as the other frames which means that this look does come with a price. There remains no wiser choice when your goal is glasses that won’t stand out. These glasses rely on polycarbonate lenses.

Appearance, comfort, and even the price tag of the completed glasses are determined in large part by your choice of frames, leaving it a significant decision. Using a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the various types of frame with your personal preferences and budget you can be sure of finding the perfect pair of eyeglasses.

When money is tight, many people end up in a situation where they cannot pay their bills, sometimes including their mortgage. This often leads to homeowners defaulting on their mortgage, and defaulting on a mortgage for a primary or secondary residence can have serious repercussions for the homeowner. The repercussions of defaulting vary by state and province and by country, and can affect a homeowner for years to come, so he or she must fully realize what defaulting on a mortgage means to financial security and status.

For instance, when you default on mortgages in Spain, there are certain consequences. If you are not a Spanish citizen but own a home in Spain, you may think its still possible to easily walk away from the mortgage with no consequences whatsoever. This used to be true, especially for second residences or vacation homes. But now Spanish mortgage holders can and do pursue every legal means necessary to collect on their mortgages.

One option you have when you default on your mortgage in Spain is to turn over the home to the bank. This option will save you money in court costs incurred by the bank when pursuing you for the balance, as well as additional interest on the mortgage during the court battle. However, turning the home over to the bank is a process that must be negotiated. The bank has to accept your offer, and they are under no obligation to do so. They will be rather unlikely to take the home back without good reason such as a hardship. Any homeowners that can prove such a hardship to the bank will be even more likely to succeed in negotiating a turnover.

If you cannot negotiate a home turnover with the bank that holds your Spanish mortgage, you will need to sell the home as soon as possible. Try to get a final sale price that will cover the remaining amount on your Spanish mortgage or one that will come as close as possible to paying it off, as the bank will still expect the full amount from you in any case. The bank will be most likely to aggressively pursue you for a large shortfall on the Spanish mortgage. However, the bank can legally pursue the homeowner for any shortfall amount at all. This means you may face liens on any assets you own, including your primary home and investments. Although it may take years to collect on the shortfall by going through the court systems, the bank that holds your Spanish mortgage will not give up until they do.

Even if defaulting on your mortgage in Spain is inevitable, you should work with the bank as much as possible as soon as you know you must default. Doing so can result in an agreement that will satisfy the bank, relieve you of your responsibilities associated with the Spanish mortgage, and allow you to keep other assets you may own.

The bloom ordered more than any other sort in floral arrangements, is the rose. Not surprising if you consider how beautiful they look. Fragile petals and a heady fragrance are delightful to the human senses, however their real message is imparted by their tone. With the unique meanings hidden in every tone, you can communicate without speaking a word. The legendary blue rose doesn’t really manifest in nature, but even painted there’s no easier way to say unattainable or impossible. When you have a blue rose sent in a bouquet, it blends beautifully with most other types of blossoms and can mean numerous things. Black roses aren’t natural at all and in general they refer to death or good-byes. These qualities make black roses a favorite rose in funeral and sympathy floral bouquets. As luck has it, not all tones will represent bad messages. Orange hued flowers can mean optimism or captivation. Peachy tones will signify modesty, whereas the deeper terracotta tones express how much you are attracted to a person. Dark peach blooms can symbolize various other messages besides, nonetheless — for example, they are always a great way of thanking people. Everybody understands the connection betwixt red roses and romantic love. What people don’t understand is that red blooms can send other plenty of other secret meanings besides. The darker reds like burgundy roses represent perfect beauty. Love at first sight is indicated by roses with no thorns.

Pink blooms are an entirely different story. Have you wanted to offer an apology? Pink roses can stand for precisely that, as well as idyllic joy or hope. The all time favorite of brides all over the world is the sophisticated white or off-white rose alluding to purity. White roses also have connections to peace and eternity. Solely by including roses, you will be perceived as more earnest, express the strength of your feelings, not to mention say all the things you need to say, especially at a time when you aren’t able to speak in person. Roses, with their huge choice of colors offer you the flexibility to get virtually any message across.

Rate Your Game

Find your tennis rating using National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) categories. The League uses the Purity of Competition rule to manage players playing level.

Tennis Austin, Tennis Baltimore and Tennis Orlando use this system.

To Send flowers to Germany before now you had to locate florists in the vicinity of where you needed them to go. You would next get them on the phone, purchase your flowers, and still you had no way of guaranteeing delivery time or to test the quality of the bouquet you had paid for. But today, the power to order Valentine’s flowers via your net connection has revolutionized all that. All you have to do to send funeral flowers now is to log in. Imagine, for a moment, relaxing at home while your needs are taken care of and your order is handled by experienced florists, safe and secure in the knowledge it will arrive in time. It’s this that is the major advantage of net shopping.

Step one when buying flowers to Edinburgh online must surely be to select a great site that maintains a low price point. Numerous stores require a delivery fee. There can sometimes be additional fees when ordering delivery to areas with only a few sales when ordering from certain stores – therefore you are recommended to make sure your preferred retailer delivers internationally without extra charges.

To individualize your flowers, the majority of sites also provide a great many supplemental products such as stuffed animals, as well as bands and many others. One of the signs of a dependable retailer in online shopping is that their customer service department will respond readily, helpfully and politely. It can be revealing of their reliability and performance in other areas.

In this day and age there is no better way to order flowers than via website; it really is as simple as that, as the process itself boils down to choosing the right site and making a few choices.

With the market meltdown earlier in the year and the threat of continued global recession still causing issues for investors, it might not seem to be the best time to review your Individual Savings Accounts and investments.

Even So, in some respects this could be the ideal time to take out a revaluation of your holdings. Time has indicated that most investors buy ISA’s at the peak of the market and tend to dispose at the bottom. In reality, savers should be buying at the bottom and hopefully trading at the top of a market. Even though the global stock markets has recovered considerably since March 2009, it could be argued that savers should now be considering the investment opportunities that are accessible to them.

If you have a portfolio of Individual Savings Account investments with several fund managers it could be worth reviewing your investment holdings to ensure that your existing investments fit your attitude towards investing. You might also check into to make certain the actual investment funds are doing well when compared to their peers.

Investors can frequently find that if their Investment funds have not been reviewed for some time, the amount of risk they could be taking might not reflect the actual risk, they would be prepared to bear.

If you want to check out more about the actual Isa Investment and limits, please see the ISA part of our website. Investors might also consider taking a look at our investment philosphy documentand how to interpret their atitude to investment risk.

Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was set up in the 1970’s and orginally the company’s focus was in highly leveraged transactions. Lately aiming to make their acquisitions more ecologically aware, KKR have set up a groundbreaking venture which has dramatically changed the way businesses and environmental activists function. Green business practice became a hot topic last year when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the independent Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged. Issues like greenhouse gas emissions and excessive water consumption are an all-important part of their corporate mission statement. In order to implement these goals, they apply eco-efficiency which involves concepts like optimizing data centers for efficiency, improving fuel economy through vehicle fleet maintenance, and recycling programs. Irrespective of the fact that the project was an enormous success, people simply did not understand how fantastic the consequences were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the program and global public affairs, finished the review of the first 12 months. Beating everybody’s expectations, Ken found that this program not only lessened the impact on the environment, but was increasing the the profit from every last company too. These days, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman have virtually every firm in their portfolio involved in eco-efficiency. When you consider that this group of business organizations has a net worth of 86 billion dollars, you can see what a massive feat this is.

KKR with the assistance of Ken Mehlman are further developing the Green Portfolio project. The Climate Corps Program set up by the Environmental Defense Fund is a great illustration of this, it campaigns for cost-effective, green practices to MBA interns. Furthermore, Ken Mehlman has been in close collaboration with KKR to produce a series of analytic tools which business concerns can utilize to evaluate and oversee a wide range of resources. This type of info is critical as businesses can assess all of their everyday activities and find out how they can improve while simultaneously seeing their progress. Henry Kravis, the KKR, and the Environmental Defense Fund are true trailblazers in the business world. So, to summarize, these systems have made environmentally friendly business techniques not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their revolutionary ideas are setting a new standard in the high-pressure business world of today.

For buying the deluxe limited edition of her latest album, “The Fame Monster,” fans are getting more than just Lady Gaga’s hottest beats. They’re also getting a small piece of her. It’s thought that Lady Gaga is leading the way as this is something innovative.

Enclosed in the collector’s edition, fans shall find an actual lock of the singer’s hair alongside Lady Gaga’s two albums – “The Fame” and “The Fame Monster” – paper dolls, a puzzle, 3-D glasses, and several shots staged by the eccentric photographer, David LaChapelle.

Featured in various stages of undress, LaChapelle had Gaga create a wardrobe from only newsprint and tape before posing completely-nude with rapper Kanye West, her former Fame Kills tour mate before he upstaged Taylor Swift at MTV’s Video Music Awards.

Prior to this, LaChapelle and Gaga collaborated on her June cover of Rolling Stone magazine in which she donned a voluptuous, bubble-suit.

Lady Gaga has climbed up to number one with her single Bad Romance, displacing Peter Kay’s Children In Need song.

The song, which the US star performed at The Royal Variety Show, is her third UK chart-topper this year.

Christmas favourites Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You broke into the top 20.

Susan Boyle notched up a third week on top of the album chart with her debut I Dreamed A Dream.

Make sure to review this great site for auto insurance collector car advice…

It’s easy to spend a tremendous amount of your time attempting to get the best car insurance deal, but very inexpensive motorcar insurance is important, especially when you are on a tight budget. A rushed decision can be bad for your pocket. If you’ll be buying insurance, here are some of the most common pitfalls to avoid. It’s ok to purchase bargain auto insurance, nevertheless settling for less than you require could finish up costing you more if something happens than you save on your premiums. So, when getting an inexpensive car insurance quotation, find out about all of the alternatives you have available to you and what they mean. At the bottom, the insurance coverage is usually termed third party, this insurance policy will just cover the damage and injuries endured by another party if you be unfortunate enough to have an accident. Next, you can get coverage for fire damage and theft, which will pay out for repairs if there is a fire, damage caused by anyone else, or steals your vehicle.

You may also purchase comprehensive policies. This covers your vehicle for accidental damage as well as fire, theft and damage to other cars that may be involved. In addition, you can select extra insurance coverage for instance: windshield replacement, damage by wild animals, insurance coverage if traveling outside the country, breakdown assistance, the use of another motorcar if yours is damaged, any legal costs, or even additional insurance coverage for yourself, your partner, and even property you may keep in your vehicle. If you require a broader standard of coverage, you should anticipate paying more. Be wary of insurance that has hidden charges. These may include: an extra fee for paying using a credit card, the costs of updating your policy before expiration, and extra fees for each driver that you put on your insurance. Likewise, really cheap car insurance policies with a very low premium will often end up costing you much more if you have an accident.

It is simple to make your insurance premiums even cheaper by snapping up the rebates you qualify for and by installing alarms to bring down the risk of theft. Sometimes decreasing your mileage can sometimes cut your premiums.

So then, it is really important to get the balance between the right price and the coverage you need. By keeping in mind the slip-ups people often make, and take into consideration all the options, it should be simple to find the right policy and be frugal killing two birds with one stone.