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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

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If you are wondering why the United States can send troops around the world, but failed to respond to a domestic emergency in a timely manner, you are not alone. Expect the lack of planning for emergency relief, in the aftermath and devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina, to be the subject of a federal investigation.

The National Guard arrived in large numbers on Friday, September 2nd, but how is it possible that the poor people of New Orleans were left four days to fend for themselves? Doesn’t the United States have a rapid deployment force? Yes, we do, and many large military installations are within an hour of the Gulf Coast, when traveling by air. Many more military bases are within two hours of the devastation.

On Sunday, August 28th - one day before Hurricane Katrina landed on the Gulf Coast it was labeled a category 5 hurricane. So, what was the emergency rescue plan? Was anybody planning any rescue efforts on Sunday night?

As luck would have it, Katrina turned out to be a category 4 Hurricane. Can you imagine the devastation, if this storm had been worse? Some parts of New Orleans are 10 feet below sea level and a system of levees, normally, keeps the surrounding water out.

Referring to the Federal response for relief help, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said, “They don’t have a clue what’s going on down here.” Mayor Nagin’s remarks are an understatement. Logistically speaking, this is not as complicated as a relief effort to Somalia.

President Bush said, “A lot of people are working hard to help those who’ve been affected. The results are not acceptable.” He is not kidding; if we can airlift food and weapons to Afghanistan, why is delivery to the Gulf Coast and New Orleans a problem?

Paul Jerard, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher.

www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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Well darlings,

Whoa up, now! This last week in politics has been better than watching one of those loveable old Laurel and Hardy films, hasn’t it? That’s another fine mess you’ve got us into, Tony! And another, and another…

In education, after eight years and twelve White Papers that have had schools reeling from one disaster after another, it looks like we’re going right back to where we started. I do hope everyone enjoyed that rather bumpy trip around the block. Fun, wasn’t it? Education, education, education? It certainly has been!

The ban on smoking rules has got everyone mystified. Neither those for or against a ban seem happy with the result, and nobody seems to be able to explain the rules clearly. Do the little bowls of heavily salted peanuts left nonchalantly on bars, the ones that are really there to entice you to have a free nibble to develop your thirst further, do they qualify as food? They are free to be taken and are not charged for or served, so how does the law stand on these? And how about the little packs of Cheddars, or even crisps, those that come sealed in airtight bags and so cannot be contaminated - are they food in the sense of the law? Do they make the ban compulsory if they are displayed, or nibbled? Will all licensed B & Bs have to stop serving breakfasts to remain within the law if they have a multi-purpose room and wish to permit smoking? Their licensing regulations are very similar to those of a pub landlord and their rights of refusal are exactly the same - so how do they stand? Ask any two politicians any of these questions and, if you should be lucky enough to get a straight answer, they’ll probably give you two different interpretations of the same rule.

In Ireland many landlords are finding ways around their total ban in a desperate attempt to save their businesses. The licensed premises, bars and restaurants, remain no smoking areas according to the letter of the law - but outside, in the gardens and in the car parks, various lean-tos, conservatories, garden shed type erections, and even a few old busses have now been left easily accessible for the smoker to use. They are not designated smoking areas, no-one is told or encouraged to use them, and the no smoking law is not being broken as they do not constitute a part of the licensed premises. It’s all a nod and a wink job. The fact that alcoholic drinking is now taking place off of the licensed premises, and may be breaking another law, seems to be of little consequence - nobody appears to be bothered. Will such a “get out” be received here with equally blind and sympathetic eyes? Again, nobody seems to know.

Such a hotch-potch was this law turning into that Tony Blair seemed to wash his hands of it entirely; content in leaving Jack Straw to try and sort it all out. Little wonder the result has been the last straw in absurdity!

That is to say, it was the last straw in absurdity until once more our Tony started wagging his forefinger! Groan, and double-groan! Here we go again! Unlike Iraq, where Saddam Hussein was telling the truth and the investigators failed to find any evidence of weapons of mass destruction either before or after the war, Iran is openly going nuclear, and that coupled with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s outright declaration that Israel should be “wiped off the map” has had many western politicians reeling and wondering what to do about it. It’s becoming generally accepted that whatever the UN may say, and any sanctions that it may impose, will hardly do much to solve this fast escalating threat to world peace.

I’m sure this time around we don’t need intelligence reports (for what use they are!), or any dossiers - sexed up or not - to tell us what is going on here. Iran, with all that heat and sun in the summer, and sitting on all that oil for the winter and the dull periods, is one of the last places on earth where a nuclear power station would be genuinely needed. Like North Korea (another tinderbox), Iran has bided its time and waited until the West had played its hand. The war on Iraq has left us with a costly and a no-end-in-sight disaster - a weeping sore that will have us tied up there for years. Everyone with more than two brain cells trying to mate knows that there is no appetite left in either the UK or in America to become embroiled in yet another war. And with both Bush and Blair having lost favour and credibility over the Iraq fiasco, for them to be able to take their countries into battle on a new front is very much an improbability.

So, with our hand played out like the greatest premature ejaculation the world has ever known - we can only wait, embarrassed, to see how the game will finally end. My money is on a surprise by Israel, should the Iranians progress too far with their plans - and that surprise might be another biggest thing the world has ever known! But then that’s life isn’t it? If you suffer from PE then it can’t be that uncommon for someone else to do the banging, can it? Shock and Awe? More like fed-up and sore!

Talking of banging: American research at Baltimore’s John Hopkins University has found that Viagra is good for the heart and may prevent heart attacks by counteracting the effect of adrenaline, thereby putting “a brake” on the organ should it attempt to work too hard. It’s also been suggested that: “We may not be too far away from taking Viagra one-a-day instead of aspirin.” That’ll certainly extend the stiff upper lip a bit over here, won’t it?

I find this beneficial revelation to be quite strange as it comes only days after other bodies have been calling for the government to force the manufacturers to add warnings to the labels of Viagra (and other impotence drugs) telling users that people have gone blind through using the drug. Do you think it might be some sort of a governmental wheeze to keep the people happy, but in the dark? Shock and Awe? Who said that? Who’s there? Who is it? Put the ruddy light on - I’ve just fallen over a broom! At least, I think it was a broom…

The facts I’ve found:
Non-arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy, a loss of vision that is frequently irreversible, is one of the most common causes of sudden blindness (especially in older people) with an estimated 1,000 to 6,000 cases a year occurring in America. (I can’t find any UK figures for it.) People mostly at risk are those with diabetes and / or heart disease which, as they are also two of the leading causes of impotence, make it hard to prove that the tablets are actually to blame.

And finally, I don’t like what I’m seeing at the Beeb and I bet I’m not alone. Ten foreign language services, with the loss of more than 200 jobs, are to be axed from the BBC World Service in order to fund a new £19million Arabic TV channel that will be broadcast across the Middle East in competition with al-Jazeera. And in further cost-cutting, job losses are soon to be announced in the news gathering department.

Whilst this new TV channel is obviously a good idea, it should not be at the expense of the other services. The broadcasts to be sacrificed are in Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Kazakh, Polish, Slovak, Slovene and Thai because, we’re told, “they have lost their relevance since the end of the Cold War.” Really? Well, up until now we’ve all known that, far from its ideals of being free from both political and commercial influence and answerable only to its viewers and listeners, the World Service of the BBC was basically government propaganda led. However, nobody before now has ever had the balls to come out to say that quite so plainly! As this new TV channel, an obvious portal for propaganda, is likely to have been the idea of the government and not that of the cash-strapped Beeb, I feel that they should fully fund it as an “extra”; not as an “instead of”.

The facts I’ve found:
The BBC motto is: Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation. But is that now only when it is paid to do so by the government?

The BBC World Service HQ is located at Bush House, a central London building that is apparently not named after any American President. Are we absolutely sure of that? You might have imagined that a company that forced Top Cat to become Boss Cat to avoid confusion with a mere feline food product when it screened the cartoon moggie over here would have been sensitive enough to change the name of their Worldwide Services HQ building the day the first Bush popped up as a President, mightn’t you?

Above the main Aldwych entrance you can see two imposing figures which represent England and America and between them they hold the torch of human progress above which is the motto “To the friendship of English speaking peoples”. A little inappropriate for the use of the building, isn’t it? What about the friendship of non-English speaking peoples? Don’t they matter?

The BBC Worldwide Service is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the grant for 2005/6 is £239million. Now that’s what I call impartiality! But I guess that if, as it appears to me lately, the BBC is to all effects exclusively to operate to the pleasure of Blair and Bush then it’s only right that they should pay for their initials to be in the corporation’s name!

Folks, just keep your eyes on that BBC crest. The day that one of those eagles is moved above the lion, I’m emigrating!

See you all next week…

“The Bitch!” 29/10/05.

“The Bitch!” column may be freely re-produced on any web site but only in its entirety and with the linked acknowledgement that “The Bitch!” writes for AstaBGay at www.astabgay.com attached to the article. On past form this column can sometimes be extremely controversial therefore it must be accepted as a condition that AstaBGay shall not be held liable for any losses or damages incurred by those who choose to reproduce these articles on their web sites.

The Bitch! regrets that because of the sheer volume of e-mails received it is often impossible to reply to them all. However, they are appreciated, and all do get read.

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If you are wondering why the United States can send troops around the world, but failed to respond to a domestic emergency in a timely manner, you are not alone. Expect the lack of planning for emergency relief, in the aftermath and devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina, to be the subject of a federal investigation.

The National Guard arrived in large numbers on Friday, September 2nd, but how is it possible that the poor people of New Orleans were left four days to fend for themselves? Doesn’t the United States have a rapid deployment force? Yes, we do, and many large military installations are within an hour of the Gulf Coast, when traveling by air. Many more military bases are within two hours of the devastation.

On Sunday, August 28th - one day before Hurricane Katrina landed on the Gulf Coast it was labeled a category 5 hurricane. So, what was the emergency rescue plan? Was anybody planning any rescue efforts on Sunday night?

As luck would have it, Katrina turned out to be a category 4 Hurricane. Can you imagine the devastation, if this storm had been worse? Some parts of New Orleans are 10 feet below sea level and a system of levees, normally, keeps the surrounding water out.

Referring to the Federal response for relief help, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said, “They don’t have a clue what’s going on down here.” Mayor Nagin’s remarks are an understatement. Logistically speaking, this is not as complicated as a relief effort to Somalia.

President Bush said, “A lot of people are working hard to help those who’ve been affected. The results are not acceptable.” He is not kidding; if we can airlift food and weapons to Afghanistan, why is delivery to the Gulf Coast and New Orleans a problem?

Paul Jerard, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher.

www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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In the times of yesteryear when Prophet Muhammad banded together the followers of Islam into a single economic and political group people associated their livelihoods with their tribe. Purchasing, selling, earning money was predominately transacted through the ideology that the tribe must thrive and dominate. As Islam became more important it was evident that it superceded any consideration to the needs of other entities. Islam became the new standard of economic activity. As the borders of the Muslim world increased so did its economic strength. Eventually it was the most powerful entity on the Earth.

In modern times Muslim countries live in great poverty. Even though there are a number of wealthy pockets to be found, the vast majority have a difficult time feeding their children or building necessary infrastructure improvements. Why is this so? The reasons lie in the assumption of nationalisms superiority over Islam. In Islam’s past there was no concept of country and national currency. Instead each city was viewed as a small state that lived and worked in the collective of the Muslim world. At that time the concept was revolutionary and lead to a great many economic changes. The Christian world was still squabbling and fighting wars against each other, furthering the economic drain on their local economies. They therefore, could not compete against Muslims effectively. The Muslims had a central authority that made great strides in reducing internal squabbles. Therefore, when they acted they could do so in a uniform manner.

Today the situation is reversed. The wealth countries of Europe have banded together in terms of economic treaties and military collaboration. The United Nations, the European Union and FTAA are all examples of this collaborated effort. This spirit of working together mitigates any internal structures they have by virtue of utilizing one of these larger organizations to arbitrate. The Muslim world, to its dismay, has reduced itself to internal squabbling and the active “undermining” of each other.

The only way to reverse the Muslim misfortune is to change our entire way of viewing business. Islamic principles of fairness, hard work and collective effort need to evolve. The concept of nationalism needs to be viewed as outdated and the concept of the singular “Ummah (community) should take its place. By working together the people can utilize their untapped wealth in terms of knowledge and natural resources to develop something for the betterment of all. Countries like Saudia Arabia, who desire a more secure food source, could invest in those countries with fertile soil but little capital wealth. Trade barriers between nations can be reduced to assure that easy flow of goods and money is possible. Leadership could be made accountable for the increasing the viability of not only their nation but that of their neighbors.

In essence the promotion of a singular Muslim currency and governmental body is necessary if any meaningful reform is going to take place. The structural governmental body would be much like that found under the European Union but with substantial Islamic improvements. Individual and national agendas would not be given full weight nor shall economic improvements be subject to corruption. Internal control would have to be developed that would help solve some of those problems that thrive in the Muslim world.

Murad Ali is a two time published author of “A Call to Greatness” and “An American Mecca”. He works full-time in labor relations, is developing an heirloom farm, runs a small consulting business, is working towards his PHD, and edits the Muslim Times. If you are interested in more articles written by Murad please visit www.muradenterprises.org

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Whether Katrina is seen as a disaster, a scourge or a purge it is hard to believe that it can dislodge the deep culture and uniqueness that makes up this city known as New Orleans. From its long history in the hands of the Spanish the French and then the Americans it has formed a character that cannot be compared to any city in the entire nation.

Every thing is different in New Orleans. This is the City of Lagniappe (something extra), romantic paddle boats, the French Quarter, muffelattas and Mardi Gras. Even the street names speak of New Orleans unusual character. Names like Tchoupitoulas, Melpomene, Chef Menteur, and Terpsichore.

The dialects and colloquialisms spring from Creole, French, African, Irish and many other tongues too numerous to mention. Perhaps most noticeable of all is the common Brooklynese spoken by most New Orleanians as a result of Brooklyn middle school teachers being imported to New Orleans over a hundred years ago to help educate New Orleans children.

Nothing in New Orleans is like any other city in our nation but that also includes its susceptibility to the ravages of Gulf storms and hurricanes. Parts of the city are only three feet below sea level and others are up to twenty feet below sea level. Ducks may love water but this city was a sitting duck for more water than it could ever handle. I knew that like everyone else living there but I thought preparations and contingencies had been properly made.

As the water begins to recede and people are evacuated and the dead are counted another storm has begun. The storm of criticism now rages throughout the nation. FEMA, the President, the National Guard are all coming under intense scrutiny for their performance or the lack of it.

For those of us down here we didn’t mind seeing Jesse Jackson cut short by our news commentators as he flew into tirade about President Bush’s slow or inadequate responses. We stand behind Mayor Nagin even though it is reported that he vented a great deal of anger towards both Governor Blanco and President Bush.

We don’t blame Sheriff Jack Stephens of St. Bernard Parish for wailing at the FEMA rep who showed up days after his deputies had worked alone and under the worst of conditions and exclaimed he was there to make an assessment. We felt like crying when we saw Governor Blanco holding back her tears as she described the situation in the first hours after Katrina danced its dance of death.

We are listening to our local leaders and our President not to the nay Sayers and critics who comment from afar and above sea level, seeking to further the interests of their party or their own profile. Contrary to what is being said we both hear and see that the help is flowing in and the effort is quite real. Even as I write this article I have stepped outside at the beckoning of my wife to see convoys of military vehicles, electric utilities, tree utilities, passenger busses and police all streaming toward the city of New Orleans down Highway 190 in Baton Rouge. If I had a flag I might have chosen to go out and wave it as I cheered them on.

Critics at this point are like salt on the wound. Hey, its America so they have the right to say whatever they want, but discretion might be calling for a little better timing. Hold off until the dust has settled, or in this case at least until the water recedes.

Between this paragraph and the last my wife and me went to a little church in a small town near Baton Rouge called Erwinville. The Sharon church, a tiny little congregation nestled between fields of sugar cane and soy beans were praying for victims of Katrina when we walked in. With only a small number of people they had already raised over twelve hundred dollars to help feed people staying in a local civic center housing Katrina refugees. They had bought uniforms for children of the victims and helped to enroll them in school classes. Additionally they were bringing supplies and funds to the red cross in New Orleans. These are Louisianans helping Louisianans and that alone made going to church an inspiration.

I have made my own situation known in more detail on my website. But just in case you think this is the opinion of just another outsider looking in, then I should tell you this. Our church, our house and the houses of almost all our friends and relatives are under ten feet of water as I write this article. We escaped the wrath of Katrina by a hair and were able to bring out an older gentleman who surely would have perished if we had not.

I will not criticize anyone who has made an effort to help us down here from the President to the kind soul who put a dollar in an offering plate set for the relief for Katrina’s victims. Some of the people and agencies who responded to this crisis may have been a bit slow, confused by poor communications and caught off guard by the shear enormity of the disaster but from their first intentions to their long journey to the deepest part of the deep south they have shown themselves to be good neighbors. On behalf of thousands of us beleaguered at this hour in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama I offer not criticism but thanks.

Rev Bresciani is the author of two books published by Xulon Press and Publish America. He is also author of many articles both in print and online. His website is americanprophet.org

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At first glance it’s hard to imagine how the proliferation of human activity upon the environment has been a major factor in climate change given that climate change alone is nothing new. Over two million years the earth’s history has seen enormous changes. Indeed, in the last ten thousand years the warming and cooling of the earth has been on a larger scale that what we see today.

The climate is however very changeable these days. Getting the politics right has been half the fight. Unfortunately, the right policy has been held at bay partially by having the right knowledge of what’s happening to the climate. The climate changes we see today are the result of only a century and a half of study, peanuts in comparison the huge shifts over the earths history.

The recent UN Climate Change Conference sought to put in place a policy to take over the Kyoto protocol. At its core were some recently publicised results:

1. The warming trend on the earth’s surface has been taking place since the early part of the twentieth century. The last ten years have been the warmest of that millennium.

2. There have been rapid signs of melting the Arctic circle. The sea ice there has fallen by around eight percent over thirty years.

3. The old inconsistency in the data between the temperature rise in the atmosphere and on the planets surface seems to have levelled out. They appear to rise in parallel.

4. The Scripps Institute of Oceanography in California noted that the ocean has been warming at different depths for over 65 years. These results match the predictions that warming has been induced more by greenhouse gases that as a result of small changes in the suns heat output.

5. There has been an observed and recorded link between the sea surface temperature and the frequency and intensity of tropical storms, typhoons and hurricanes.

6. The existing computer models of the change in ocean currents, in particular in the North Atlantic, are correct.

There are however still some unknowns. For example the solar hypothesis is now known to be a lesser contributor, the miniscule changes in the suns heat output over its eleven year sunspot cycle is adding to the mix. Also, the aerosol emissions from sulphurous fuel promote the formation of clouds, and as a consequence the sunlight reflected from the earths surface increases, effectively opposing the greenhouse gas effect.

Some even argue for the benefits of global warming, which include for example the opening up of new shipping lanes in the artic as the ice recedes, new oil drilling opportunities and longer harvest periods in Canada and Russia.

It seems climate change is inevitable and the small economic ideas such as banning coal subsidies bear little fruit as a means of curbing the problem. More than ever, political will must be demonstrated at first to show to industry and populations that it is even an issue. More importantly perhaps, the will of the politicians must be met with achievable methods from the technological and scientific community.

Professor Socolow is leading the way with what he calls “stabilisation wedges”. On a graph of climate change, the space between the trend line and the stability line is known as the “stabilisation triangle’. By dividing these triangles into wedges and assigning realistic goals to each wedge the massive problem is given a usable and effective solution.

The goals to assign to the wedges range from greater overall efficiencies, the decarbonisation of electricity, fuel displacement by low carbon electricity, methane management, and natural carbon sinks.

By further subdividing each wedge into sub wedges, such as decarbonised electricity being subdivided into nuclear power, renewable energy, natural gas as an alternative to coal, and the storage of carbon dioxide - these problems are confounded into what everyone has been looking for. A short list of solutions that together will balance the problem.

It seems the technology for all this exists. It is merely in need of refinement. For example the management of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels could be dealt with through further carbon sequestration. A couple of power plants already employ this particular technique to good effect. The carbon dioxide is extracted at the source and is injected into porous rocks deep underground to prevent it escaping into the atmosphere.

Steam reformation is another technique. It is, in essence, a pre-emptive technique that reacts the fuel used with water to yield hydrogen. The hydrogen output is burnt to create electricity.

Of all the possibilities of reworking and inventing technologies, perhaps the best idea is the oldest idea. Replanting programmes. The idea of photosynthesis to combine carbon dioxide with water and sunlight is a relatively cheap and exponential idea and would be hugely effective.

Jacob Fiennes is an enthusiastic traveller and photographer with a passion for discovery. He is a founder and regular contributor to the hugely popular worldwide hotel reservations site TravelBX.com. Visit the site for your next hotel room reservation, flight ticket, tailored holiday package and much more. >> www.travelbx.com

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On any given day, the weather trend is usually the first subject of conversation. During the past month, anywhere you go in the United States, the price of gasoline has become a primary topic to complain about. Most people, and businesses, feel helpless when looking toward winter’s fuel bills.

Will dispensing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve help us? If you think short-term - Yes; it will help temporarily.

In fact, you can expect to see products and services increase in price due to the price of fuel and transportation. This is only the beginning of economic change. Many of the “Mom and Pop” businesses may not be able to adapt fast enough to handle the upcoming heating bills. Many of the local businesses, in my area, are still “smarting” from last winter’s fuel bills.

So what can we do? There has been a flood of Emails that tell us to boycott a particular oil company, but nobody can agree on exactly which company to boycott. Most oil companies are considered “greedy corporate giants,” with questionable political agendas, by the consumers. If we are going to be driven out of business, and into an economic disaster, it is time to declare economic warfare on the largest oil companies.

Sorry to choose such strong words and opinions, but this has gone on long enough. Osama Bin Laden may not feel that you are paying enough at the pump, but you don’t have his millions to pay your fuel bills with.

There is also an effort to stop buying gasoline on a particular day. Every business deals with ups and downs, but you have to come back to the pump; a day of poor sales isn’t going to matter to multi-millionaires. However, a month, or a season, will wake them up.

If we made a serious commitment to walk or bike more, we would all be healthier, and send a message to the oil companies. Granted, many of us commute great distances to get to work, but taking the car around the block to pick up a half-gallon of milk is ridiculous.

A little self-discipline goes a long way. Get rid of all gas guzzlers and don’t even think of buying one. Does anyone really need a 5.7 liter hemi? What are the auto manufacturers thinking? This is total gluttony, and we all know that the world’s oil reserves will run out, so let’s conserve what we have.

In your home, or business, you should insulate everything possible. Many people, and businesses, already have done this, but heat is becoming too precious a commodity to take for granted.

Write your local legislators about alternative fuel sources. Let them know this is an important election issue. They have all sat on their rear ends long enough. Foreign oil dependence has become our foreign policy; it’s time to become self sufficient.

The oil companies are currently engaged in price gouging, but we are not helpless. If we conserve, and get some action from government, it will be for the common good.

Paul Jerard, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher.

www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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