Have you heard about Mars One?  Here is what they say they are:

Mars One is a private, apolitical organization whose intent is to establish a colony on Mars through the integration of existing, readily available technologies from industry leaders world-wide. Unique in its approach, Mars One intends to fund this decade-long endeavor through an interactive, reality TV style broadcast from astronaut selection to robotic construction of the outpost; from the seven month flight through the first years on Mars.

Now, I love the idea of going to Mars.  I am OK even with having one way trips to do so.  (Got to die somewhere, right?)  I really love the video they put together:

And I would love to believe that they would be able to pull it off.  But they do not have the funds or the staff to pull it off.  They do not have the billions that would be required or the expertise.

Here is the timeline that they currently plan:

2013:

This will be the year in which our astronaut selection begins! Who will be the first four humans on Mars and who are to follow every two years after? Anyone who meets the criteria and feels they are up to the challenge can apply. Mars One will maintain 40 trained astronauts during the full duration of its missions.

By the close of 2013, Mars One will build a replica of the Mars settlement on Earth, likely in a cold, desolate environment, to help the astronauts prepare and train and for a realistic environment in which to test the equipment. The astronaut selection and the preparations in the simulated Mars base will be broadcast world-wide for the public to view.

2016:

The supply mission will be launched for Mars in January 2016. It will land on the Red Planet in October 2016 with its cargo of 2500 kilograms of spare parts, solar photovoltaic panels, and general supplies. It will land close to where the outpost is expected to be.

 

What will most definitely happen is that in 2013 a call will be put out for volunteers wanting to go to Mars.  There really will be training and a mock up built here on earth.  It really will be a media spectacle.  There will be sponsors for the show.  And it will make considerable amount of money.  Probably in the $100 of millions.

What will not happen is actually sending anything into space.  The entire event will be done here on the grown, with no hope of anything be launched into orbit.  There will especially not be anything or anyone going to Mars because of this.

Why?  Well you see, the ground stuff is safe and cheap.  It also makes for better TV.  But anything that is actually sending things to space is costly, risky, and does not make for good TV.  It won’t happen being funded this way, with this group of people.

I wish it were otherwise.  And I hope I am wrong.  But I do not see how I could be…

Just got an email that had this quote:

President Obama recently said, "If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen."

And that looks to be very straight forward.  If you have a business, somebody else made it happen.  It seems to undervalue the role of the business person.  And how could a presidential candidate say such a thing in a country like America.

Yesterday I was watching Fox news and saw several commentators make similar comments. 

I was so shocked that I just had to see the video clip of him saying it.  A look at YouTube brought it up:

Here is the full quote of what he said in the video:

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you’ve got a business. you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.

He is referring not to businesses but to the infrastructure that business use and depend on, the roads and bridges, the unbelievable American system.

Anyway, I stumbled on a more in depth analysis:

abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/did-obama-say-if-youve-got-a-business-you-didnt-build-that/

A friend sent me the following photos.  It shows some real creativity.  The idea of drawing faces on eggs is not knew, but it is cool to see it developed to this extent.  Challenge for today:  Find something like eggs, but different and do something similar.  Send me some picture if you do this:  nathan.price@gmail.com   (Some ideas that come to mind are faces on pencils; wrapped candies; tires; kids toys…  )

Instead of buying lots of cardboard boxes, putting all your dishes, pictures, clothes, and the like into them, and then having to dispose of them where you are going, Greenway Crates has a solution.  Rent these durable plastic crates during your move, and have an easier time with it.  Learn more on the video below and at their website:

www.greenwaycrates.com

or from their video:

Filter your Houston area real estate search results by price, size, beds, baths, and much more!  Do not forget to click the “Register Now” link to be able to save searches, mark “Favorite” properties, and get nightly email updates with new home listings matching your criteria!

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Filter your Houston area real estate search results by price, size, beds, baths, and much more!  Do not forget to click the “Register Now” link to be able to save searches, mark “Favorite” properties, and get nightly email updates with new home listings matching your criteria!

Please call me at 832-303-1018 if you have any questions with this tool or your home search in general!

Filter your Houston area real estate search results by price, size, beds, baths, and much more!  Do not forget to click the “Register Now” link to be able to save searches, mark “Favorite” properties, and get nightly email updates with new home listings matching your criteria!

Please call me at 832-303-1018 if you have any questions with this tool or your home search in general!