:The Flash Advancer

Have you wondered how credit card eligibility is determined?

Curious whether you’re eligible for a credit card?

It all has to do with your credit rating and credit score. Here we go with a quick tutorial on what constitutes credit-worthiness and how you can make sure that you are eligible for a credit card when you want one.

Credit Reports and Credit Scores

When you buy something on credit or have a credit card, the credit card company or store makes periodic reports to one or more credit reporting agencies. Those agencies keep records of your credit history - how good you are at paying your bills on time.

Among the things that go into your credit history are:

1. How many credit cards you have

2. How much you owe on each one

3. How many loans you’ve taken out

4. How much you still owe on them

5. Any payments that you’ve made late

6. Any payments that you’ve missed

7. If you’ve ever defaulted on a loan

8. If you’ve ever filed for bankruptcy

9. If you own a house

10. If there has ever been a judgment against you for unpaid debts

Credit reporting agencies assign a ‘weight’ to each of those facts, and assign points to you based on each of those points. The total of those points is called your ‘credit score’. The higher your credit score is, the better your credit is.

Some of the things that you lose points on your credit score for are:

1. Having too many credit cards

2. Carrying too much debt on your credit cards

3. Carrying too many loans

4. Making late payments or missing payments

5. Defaulting on a loan

6. Applying for a lot of credit cards in a short time

The credit card and credit score give a ’snapshot’ of your credit history.

Getting a Credit Card

When you apply for a credit card, the company that issues the card checks with a credit reporting agency to get your credit report and find out your credit score. Since they’re basically lending you money whenever you use your credit card, they want to make sure that you’re the kind of person who pays your debts on time. They have an ideal ’snapshot’ that they compare your credit report and score with. The closer your credit score is to their ideal, the better your chances of getting a credit card with a great interest rate and good terms.

The lower your credit score is, the more a risk you are for the credit card company. Because they take a bigger risk when they lend you money, they charge you more by giving you a higher interest rate. If your credit score is too low, they won’t give you a credit card at all. If you have no credit history at all, they also may decide not to give you a credit card, depending on other factors in your credit history.

If you’re turned down for a credit card.

The credit card company has to tell you the reasons that you were turned down. They also have to tell you which credit reporting agency they got your credit history from. There are three major credit reporting agencies in the country - Equifax, Experian and Transunion. The report that the credit card company used to make their decision will be one of those.

You have the right to request a copy of the credit report that they used to make your decision. The company that provided the report to the credit agency has to give you a copy free. The credit reporting agency also has to give you a copy of your credit report once every 12 months if you request it. Get your credit report to find out what it says about you - and to see how you can improve your credit score so that you won’t be turned down next time.

You may freely reprint this article provided the author bio and live links are left intact.

Joseph Kenny writes for the credit card comparison site http://www.CardGuide.co.uk. There is a credit card guide section to aid the selection and general use of credit cards among users.

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When making use of telephone bugs, it can be very frustrating to be constantly checking, only to find that you missed a call. You have a busy life. Other things to do, other clients to work for, a life to live. You can’t just be sitting there trying to play hit and miss with telephone bugs. This is where the new generation of bugs comes in. It is possible to use a bug that will actually call you when a phone call is made. That way you need not miss a conversation that you cannot afford to miss.

Traditional bugs require that you listen to the transmissions or call in to see if a call is being placed. Additionally, some telephone bugs only allowed you to hear one end of the conversation. Neither of these things is very savory, nor do the provide help to you as you frantically try to listen in at just the right time. Additionally, many transmitters run the risk of being found as they transmit the signal out. With telephone bugs that call you, you can listen to both ends of the conversation, and receive notification when a call is placed or received by your subject.

The first telephone bugs that work in this manner are bugs that look like cell phones. You plug them in to share the same line as the regular phone, and they look like they were forgotten or like they are charging. These phones can be programmed to silently ring your preferred number whenever the home phone goes off. And it is set up so that when you pick up to listen in, you are listening as if you were on another phone in the house (just like mom and dad did when you called home from college). You hear both ends, and neither party is the wiser.

Other telephone bugs that can be programmed to call you are more high tech cell phones. You give the phone to the subject (or have your client do so) and then you wait. These phones work like regular cell phones. The person talks normally and receives calls normally. But every time he or she uses the phone (place or receive) the phone dials you and lets you know.

No matter which product you choose, you don’t have to miss a call when you are called by your telephone bugs.

(c) 2005 Copyright www.spyassociates.com. This article is about: Telephone Bugs.

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Pre-teens are no longer wanting to play kiddie games but are not yet teenagers. They will not want to play running games yet are not really ready to just hang out. Here are some ideas for your pre-teen party.

Untie the Knot

Place the guests in two separate circles. Ask them to raise a hand and take hold of someone’s hand on the opposite side of their circle. Then, using their free hand, grab the hand of a different person close by. Without letting go they must try unravel themselves. The first team to do so is the winner.

Matching Characters

Identify couples from real life or fiction like Lady Di and Charles, Peter Pan and Wendy or Willie Wonka and Charlie. Place a piece of paper on each persons’ back identifying them. Each person then asks 1 question from every other person till they discover who they are. They may only ask questions such as am I male or female, a fictional character or real person, dead or alive, etc. Once they identify themself, they can start looking for their partners. The winners are the first matching couple.

Toilet Paper Game

This is a wonderful ice breaker - especially if the guests don’t know each other well. As each guest arrives ask them to take a strip of toilet paper off a roll. When everyone is there get the guests to sit in a circle. Starting with the birthday person, each person must reveal something about themselves equal to the number of squares they tore off. You could also pass a bowl of sweets around. Tell each guest to take a hand full. They must tell a secret for each sweet they took.

Balloon Defense

Tie a balloon to each persons’ ankle. The idea is to try stamp on each other’s balloons to pop them without having yours burst. Here are tons more wonderful balloon games.

Note for Note

Have a selection of popular CD’s (preferably of mixed artists) and a CD player which allows you to fast forward to the middle of a song. Press play anywhere in the middle of a song and play for 2 seconds. Whoever identifies the song first gets a toothpick. The one with the most toothpicks in the end wins. You could have them identify the song or artist.

Questions and Answers

Get each person to write a way-out question on a piece of paper. Fold and place in a bowl. Ask them to write a line from their favorite song on another piece of paper. These are the answers. Pass the questions around and let every one take one. Each person gets a turn to read their question, then take an “answer” from the second bowl and sing it if they know the song. Some really hilarious answers to questions come out! And strange versions to songs too.

Stork the lantern

This game is played best outside at night. One child is “it” and sits with a flashlight or lantern. They must look at the light. The other children move out into the dark. They try get as close to the lantern as possible. The person with the light tries to listen for noises or spot movement. Then they can look up and say something like “I see you with the red shirt”. That person then sits down. The child that gets the closest to the lantern wins.

Bubble blowing

No not just any bubbles but big odd shaped bubbles. You will need a good bubble solution and shaped wire to create these huge bubbles.

Use these ideas, they are sure to be a hit.

Blessings from Africa
MissTy (Tania Collins)
I get all my free printable invitations here

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In the early 1900s, Formula 1 Racing started with unstable racing cars & elder gentleman drivers, nevertheless the main F1 Racing Championship didn?t begin until the nineteen fifties. As the many years went by and the competition became more popular, it almost immediately became comprehensible that Formula 1 Motor Racing was the pinnacle championship for motor sport. The racing cars were the fastest, the equipment was the most developed & the drivers were at the height of their strength coming from foreign countries all around the earth.

With the allowance of sponsorship funding, Formula One Motor Racing took on its more commercial arrangement & may at this moment be perceived as being big business ? with capital reaching millions & billions with little effort. With very big business arrives politic affairs & sometimes it?s the people you are acquainted to and how much money you are in possession of that obtains you what you fancy. Formula 1 Motor Racing is entwined with conspiracy stories ? I will disclose to being one of them ? but depending on how immersed you would like to get in the F1 society, that side of things is painlessly ignored. What really matters is what comes about on the race weekend.

Journeying all across the earth for just about eight months of the year, Formula 1 stops different countries large & small, prosperous & poor, with spectacular landscapes, interesting visitors & bags of local stories to be soaked up. A race weekend covers Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a F1 Racing weekend is a severe ride, from early testing, to the last laps of the Formula 1 motor race. For all the latest Formula 1 News go to F1Tribute.com now.

The central formation incorporates a Formula One race every two weeks. Now and again the Formula One calendar is changed with a little bit and there are F1 motor races on back-to-back weekends, or at times you have to go lots of weeks before even seeing the known Formula 1 drivers again. When it is time for the next F1 race, you can examine the news for your preferred Formula 1 constructor as they arrive at the destination. Friday is made up of practice periods, Saturday is for qualifying and Sunday is for the motor racing event.

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If there is one thing we have all suffered through is waiting for a site to download online. It seems like it is the worse thing in the world and will never end. We actually either click off of the site or after the initial download of the frontpage completes, we then click off of the site because the subpages take too long to load. We have all been here and this article is to help make sure your visitors don’t go through it as well.

The reason why a websites speed of download is important is actually very simple and we have broken it down into two parts:

-The first part is that people want to get to where they are going quickly. This is pretty straight forward and now a days no one seems to have the time to wait for a site to download(no matter how important it is).

-The second part is to deliver the content to the user as quick as possible so that we can keep them interested and entertained. The quicker they can get to the information the more they will click around your site and the more they will interact with your website. This is extremely important if your website has it’s own estore, as the more products your visitors are able to view then the more time they spend in your store and the better the chance you have of them purchasing something off of you. Pretty simple and straight forward.

Now you may be wondering how you can take your current design or your re-design and improve the performance of your website so it doesn’t take forever for it to download. The truth is that it isn’t too complex and actually anyone can follow these steps. Here are some tips on how to get your website to load faster and why these factors may cause long load times:

1. Tip one is to use regular html text instead of graphic text(such as exporting text from a program like fireworks or photoshop). The reason for this is that html text carries alot smaller kbs size when added to website design. So anywhere that you use regular text instead of “graphical text” will really help decrease your page size making the download time quicker for each user.

2. Tip two is to limit other graphics uses on your website where you can. Some things such as using a graphic for your logo can not be avoided but try to make an effort to limit the amount of graphics on each page. The more graphics you use the higher your page size will be and the more time it takes to download it. Really graphic intensive websites can have users waiting a while for everything to download. Some occasions where it might be ok to use graphics is if they will also be used on subpages. These graphics will already be cached on your visitors computers and will not have to be downloaded again when a person visits your subpages.

3. Tip three is to limit the use of flash. It can make your page take even longer to load as the kbs size of each file are usually quite larger then any graphics on your website. This can really increase download times and in alot of cases is not necessary.

4. The final tip is to try not to nest tables inside of each other. Try to break down your design and use multiple tables. This way each table will load separately giving your visitors something to view while the rest of your site loads. If you load everything into one table then they will have to wait for the whole main table to load.

Remember the key is to get your users to the information as fast as possible. If you follow this advice and apply these rules to your site, then there is nothing saying you can’t have a quick loading and great looking website as well.

Anthony Jewell has over 6 Years experience in the Web & Graphics World. You can visit my business and join in conversation at Logo2D.com - Logo2D.com Forum

©Copyright 2005 Logo2D.com : Feel free to use this article freely but please keep in the copyright

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Most people in the United States have a pretty good idea how to get good prices on flights in their own country, but what about getting cheap airfare to Canada? That can be a little complicated, but it’s made much easier if you know a few tricks ahead of time.

First of all, the best strategy in general is to concentrate on the largest cities and largest airports. It might be strange that hotels in large cities cost much more than hotels in small towns, yet flights are the exact opposite. So, for this reason, if you can fly into Toronto or Vancouver you are ahead of the game, but don’t forget about Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, or Edmonton. You’ll find prices into these cities tend to be much lower than into smaller cities in those same areas.

Another tip for this is actually to fly into major American cities just south of the border. Like Seattle isn’t too far from Vancouver, and Detroit isn’t too far from Toronto. Sometimes the extra taxes for the international fares are so much higher when you cross a border that it’s cheaper to fly into the American city and then rent a car than to fly directly to Canada.

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In order for us to change the things that we are unhappy with in
our lives we have to change the way that we think. If we never
change the way that we think we will continue to get the same
results in our lives. In order for us to see changes in our
lives we have to face our worst enemy and that is FEAR (really
ourselves)

About 90% of people live their lives in fear and never become
the person that they dream of becoming. This simply happens
because they just fail to take action. They FEAR what they don’t
understand. We have to look at FEAR as nothing more then a word
or as a learning process. Did you ever know what FEAR was when
you were a young child? Probably not, at least until someone
that you trusted or looked up to told you what it was. Mankind
has simply connected a word to a feeling, giving it life and in
turn making people fear it. Mark Twain said it best with this
quote, “Do the things that you FEAR most and the DEATH to FEAR
is certain.” You owe it to yourself to understand this
principle.

To conquer fear start by accomplishing the things that you fear
the most. After doing so, you will look back and think how
foolish it was to be afraid in the first place.

Learn to leave your comfort zone. When we leave our comfort zone
we become a more rounded individual. When we do the things that
we fear and look back at them afterwards, we see that what we
feared has now turned into part of our comfort zone. This simply
happens because we do not fear these things after accomplishing
them in the past. The next time similar situations arise we will
no longer stress over it, we will just do it.

We must set our minds on always conquering the unknown. Always
“think outside the box”. Look fear in the eyes and just do the
task. Chances are that you will succeed and soon come to find
out that FEAR is nothing more then a word. Every successful
businessperson has undoubtedly faced fear many times, yet they
have succeeded in their business. So can you!

Think back to when you were a child. Most of us have limitations
put on our lives very early. We are taught how to think, what
schools to attend, how to make a living, and finally, even how
to plan our retirement. Most of us end up fearing anything that
is different than what we are taught.

Once we understand and can change some of the beliefs that have
been programmed into us by society, we can more fully take
control of our lives and our destiny through the power of
positive thought.

You to can become successful in any aspect of your life that you
choose. You just have to get past one thing, YOURSELF!

When you do this you will start to become the person that you
have always dreamed about. Today is the day you are going to
take what is rightfully yours. It’s called LIFE! We are here to
enjoy every aspect of life, not just to be a part of it.

Believe in yourself and start by reducing your stress, and with
it your fear.

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A quick glance at a packed public beach, and you will see a great variety of people and the beach clothing they wear. What should you wear? Fashions come and go, but there are a few standard types of swimwear you will always see. Manufacturers pay special attention to the needs of every body type and every personality, so somewhere out in a store or on the internet is a bathing suit for you to fall in love with. Whether you wish to stand out or join the crowd, you want to look good, and the bathing suit you wear says a lot about who you are.

1-Piece suits

The traditional 1-piece has always been the favorite at beaches. Not only do most women feel more comfortable in them, there are a huge variety of styles and shapes to fit every body type. Stripes, patterns and colors can flatter your body, and special fabric construction and accessories can shift the focus of your body to other areas. For instance, suits with high cut hips make your legs look longer and your bottom look trimmer. A pear shape can be minimized with embroidery and stylized straps at the bust. A heavy torso can look slimmer with vertical stripes. A busty figure can be balanced by wearing dark colors and no special frills and accessories on the straps and over the bust. A small bust should do the opposite, by adding colors and accessories to the top and straps.

If you are planning on doing a lot of swimming or playing sports, it’s best to wear a 1 piece, as they offer the most strength and support for your activities.

Tankinis

A very popular item for the last decade, a tankini is a 2-piece suit that acts as a 1 piece by covering most of your torso. They are incredibly versatile, offering a huge range of types, construction, and options. You can mix and match a top with a bottom, keeping your look fresh and exciting. They are great for shaping your body, as many tankinis can be built with tummy control panels to comfortably tighten your torso. This type of bathing suit is flirty and fun without showing off too much.

Bikinis

Yes, the celebrated bikini. If you love your curves, show them off! Women will hate you, men will love you. Styles change often, so it’s important to be fashion conscious every season. Bikinis are great for lounging and sun tanning, and come in a variety of colors, patterns and styles. Be careful when you swim or play sports, because the straps and fabric can be flimsy.

Accessories

Whatever style of bathing suit you decide to wear, accessories always go well with your clothing. Sunglasses, belly rings, beach bags, even hair clips and jewelry help complete your outfit. A sarong wrap around, flip-flops and beach shorts are great for walking or going to a restaurant. Enjoy the sand and surf!

Chris is the author and owner of http://www.no-tan-lines.com, an information and resource site on tan through clothing, tanning tips and beach sportswear.

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Author Interview - Shower of Heavenly Roses by Elizabeth Ficocelli
By Lisa M. Hendey

I believe that my own strong devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux, lovingly known as “The Little Flower”, stems from the fact that she gives me such great hope - hope that someone who spends most of every day doing mundane little tasks (like washing laundry and driving car pools), can make these little acts holy by offering them to God with a loving heart.

In her new book Shower of Heavenly Roses: Stories of the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux (Crossroad Publishing Company, September 2004, paperback, 227 pages), author Elizabeth Ficocelli shares stories of countless hearts touched through the intercession of St. Therese. For those not acquainted with St. Therese and her wonderful autobiography Story of a Soul, Ficocelli’s introduction relates the life history and spirituality of this magnificent woman. In her Prologue, Ficocelli shares her own personal faith journey and the role in that journey played by St. Therese, as well as the meaning of the sign of the rose.

Millions have turned to St. Therese for aid and intercession in times of difficulty and despair. The stories shared in Shower of Heavenly Roses are stirring accounts of prayers answered by miracles, great and small. St. Therese inspired many with her words “I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth.” Shower of Heavenly Roses shows that St. Therese’s spirit of love and service, her “little way”, lives on in our world.

I am pleased to share the following interview with author Elizabeth Ficocelli.

LH: It’s a pleasure to be able to share the following interview with Elizabeth Ficocelli, author of Shower of Heavenly Roses: Stories of the Intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux. Elizabeth, first off let me say that this book is a treasure! Would you please begin by telling our readers a bit about yourself and your family?

EF: I am a Catholic convert who entered the Church in 1983. I have been married to a wonderful man for 19 years, the man who first introduced me to the Faith. I am a stay-at-home mom and my husband and I are raising four boys — ages 13, 9, 6 and 4 — in central Ohio. For the last five years, I have been writing books and magazine articles to share my love and enthusiasm of the Faith with others. My desire is to excite and educate people about the sacraments and the other treasures that our Church offers.

LH: Elizabeth, this book has a great deal of personal meaning for you as you share your own story of conversion. Can you briefly relate to our readers your own personal experience with St. Therese during your faith journey?

EF: As I mentioned, I am a convert. I was raised Lutheran, and when I was eight years old, I found a medal on the sidewalk as I was walking to school. I thought the woman on the medal was Mary. For some reason, I kept that medal in my jewelry box, and it wasn’t until I was an adult Catholic that I discovered the meaning of the mysterious message imprinted on the back, “After my death I will let fall a shower of roses.” It was the famous quotation of St. Therese of Lisieux. This prompted me to read her autobiography, Story of a Soul, and like so many others, I fell in love with her. I felt she had always been present in my life, from my youth. Years later, I wrote a magazine article about the intercession of this saint in my life and the life of my son. It was my first published work, and it ran in Catholic Parent in January 2000. Interestingly, this was exactly when the relics of St. Therese were touring this country and creating quite a fervor, as they seem to do in every country they visit. I did not know about the relics tour when I wrote the article. The timing was all her doing. She accomplished this a second time with my book, Shower of Heavenly Roses. Due to the overwhelming response to my call for stories, the book was completed a full year ahead of schedule. It was released in September 2004, a few weeks before the launch of the major motion picture, Therese. I was aware that a movie had been made about her, but I had no idea it was going to be released this year until my manuscript was well into production.

LH: For our readers who have not yet had the opportunity to read Shower of Heavenly Roses please give us a description of the book.

EF: Shower of Heavenly Roses is a compilation of 65 stories that depict the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux in the lives of a variety of people. The stories are beautiful and inspiring examples of faith that I think the world needs to hear right now. But I wanted to do more than present some beautiful stories. I wanted to make the world aware of this special Saint and the lesson of love that she teaches us all. That’s why I provide an introduction about her life, her spirituality, and why she was named Saint and Doctor of the Church. In my prologue, I talk about saintly intercession in general, and I address how this idea can be easily be misconstrued or self-serving. And that’s not the point at all. The saints are one of our terrific gifts from God, an example to us all, and yes, their help is available for the asking. But we should not limit ourselves to simply asking for personal favors. We really should be asking these holy men and women to help us follow the wonderful example they left us.

LH: In reading the stories included in Shower of Heavenly Roses, I was deeply moved by the impact that St. Therese has had on so many lives. The stories come from such a broad cross section - old and young, lay and religious, male and female…how did you go about collecting the stories for the book?

EF: I used the Internet for my primary research. I discovered many organizations, publications and private web sites dedicated to St. Therese, in addition to lay and religious orders. I contacted organizers of the relics tour and was able to get a list of most of the churches and monasteries that hosted the relics. A few Catholic publications posted my call for stories, but for the most part, the word was spread electronically.

LH: Of the stories you share in Shower of Heavenly Roses, do you have a favorite?

EF: That’s a tough question. All of the stories have special meaning to me; that’s why I selected them for the book. I have developed friendships with the contributors — many of them have become like family. I had the great pleasure of meeting two of the contributors in person when I did a book signing at the National Shrine of St. Therese on October 1st. They were delightful — I wish I could meet each one. A few of the stories do have an extra special place in my heart. The very first story to come in, within 24 hours after I sent my call for stories, came from Brazil. It’s about a mother who locates her grown children halfway around the world after many years of separation, thanks to the intercession of St. Therese. This story set the tone of the book for me, and therefore I placed it as the first story that appears in the book. There are some “wow” stories, like St. Therese making her presence known in a wedding photo. A quieter story that touches me is called, “My Dad’s Devotion.” It is written by a grown daughter, recalling her father’s love/hate relationship with St. Therese. By “hate” I mean that when things weren’t working out as the father would have liked, his statue of St. Therese would be turned around with her nose against the wall. When things were okay, she was facing front again. I found this very open, honest and human relationship with the Saint very real and simple, like St. Therese herself.

LH: Elizabeth, St. Therese has long been one of my favorite spiritual friends and confidants so I am pleased with the influx of recent projects about her such as your book and the Therese movie. What message do you hope to share through Shower of Heavenly Roses?

EF: I hope the book will inspire people to learn more about St. Therese and her little way of great love, particularly through her autobiography, Story of a Soul. I also hope the book will lead people to discover other saints and the blessing they are to all of us. I think most importantly, I would like people to come away with the realization that God exists and loves us very much, and that His community of saints is just one more way He shows us that love in our daily lives. That’s why I’m personally sharing this book with people of other faiths and those with no faith at all.

LH: As a fan of your books for children, Child’s Guide to First Holy Communion and Child’s Guide to Reconciliation, and now this latest book, I’m curious to hear about your plans for upcoming projects. What are you working on next?

EF: I am currently writing another adult book that will have a similar format to Shower of Heavenly Roses. This book is going to be about Medjugorje. I attribute Medjugorje and its call for peace, prayer, fasting, conversion and the sacraments as having a significant influence on my own Catholicism today. Since my pilgrimage there in 1989, Medjugorje has really helped to make my faith come alive. Because there is much controversy about these apparitions, my intention is to release a book in 2006 (the 25th anniversary of the apparitions) that will bring healing and understanding to this controversy. Therefore, I am compiling stories of how individuals have been converted by their exposure to Medjugorje and its messages, and what is happening as a result of that conversion, 25 years later. For many people, it has spawned new ministries. The stories I have been receiving are wonderful testaments that these apparitions continue to bear good fruit in the world. I think the Church needs to hear these stories as it continues to observe the events happening in Medjugorje.

LH: Elizabeth Ficocelli, author of Shower of Heavenly Roses, thank you so much for your time and for this gift of this wonderful book. I know that it will touch many hearts and bring many into a closer prayer relationship with St. Therese of Lisieux. Are there any closing thoughts you’d like to share with our readers?

EF: I thank you for your web site that provides such helpful information for Catholic moms like me. I also appreciate this unique opportunity to talk about my own writing ministry. Readers are invited to visit my web site at www.elizabethficocelli.com for a complete list of books and magazine articles, or to submit a Medjugorje story. Books can be ordered through this web site or by contacting your local bookseller. Thank you, and God Bless!

For more information or to order Shower of Heavenly Roses: Stories of the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux visit http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0824522567/digitalcropper-20 or www.elizabethficocelli.com

Lisa M. Hendey is a mother of two sons, webmaster of numerous web sites, including http://www.catholicmom.com and http://www.christincoloring.com, and an avid reader.

About the Author

Lisa M. Hendey is a mother of two sons, webmaster of numerous web sites, including http://www.catholicmom.com and http://www.christincoloring.com, and an avid reader.

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The aftermath of Katrina has affected more that just New Orleans and the surrounding gulf coast. There are huge financial implications associated with the catastrophe, from the initial humanitarian aid to the rebuilding and repairing needed to get the local area back on its feet. Eight oil refineries shut down as a result of Katrina could take many months to restart. The Gulf Coast is a prime supplier of oil, through pipelines now shut due to lack of power and ocean-going barges unable to load from ports eradicated by the storm.

From a global perspective, the loss of oil production in the area is sending shockwaves through the world’s financial institutions and economies. Even before hurricane Katrina’s damage to oil production the price of fuel has increased to a major degree. The following data compares price increases from September 2004 to August 2005 in the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

US Fuel Price Increases

September 2004

Unleaded: £0.28 ($0.48) per Litre

Diesel: £0.29 ($0.51) per Litre

August 2005

Unleaded: £0.38 ($0.67) per Litre

Diesel: £0.39 ($0.68) per Litre

UK Fuel Price Increases

September 2004

Unleaded: £0.87 ($1.59) per Litre

Diesel: £0.83 ($1.52) per Litre

August 2005

Unleaded: £0.96 ($1.76) per Litre

Diesel: £0.94 ($1.73) per Litre

In the United Kingdom, motorists are burdening more fuel increases with the price of 1 litre soon to exceed £1 ($1.84). About 65% of the price UK motorists pay goes to the government in tax so the additional revenues generated are unlikely to direct the government to rebalance tax levels on fuel unless the wider economy comes under threat.

“…If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break

And the water gonna come in, have no place to stay…”

When The Levee Breaks
Memphis Minnie
recording of 1929 written after the devastating Mississippi flood of 1927

My next visit to fill up my car is once again bound to force a whimper from my wallet especially when the litre dial spins at the same rate as the total cost dial. But as my day to day problems range from the extra few pounds I have to pay on the weekly fuel to what colour to paint my children’s bedrooms, I consider myself very lucky and certainly very selfish… shame on me!

About the Author

Gordon doesn’t usually like to talk politics unless it involves money, he writes articles for the personal finance articles website www.search-4-loans.co.uk. He also maintains content on www.loansense.co.uk and www.the-loanshop.co.uk.

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