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Vatican City is the world’s smallest country with the world’s largest congregation, the Roman Catholic church. Liechtenstein is 360 times as large. It has a permanent resident population of about 400. Still it retains all the trappings of nationhood. It has its own postage stamps, its own diplomatic corps, its own flag, its own “army,” the familiar Swiss Guard, and the right under international compact to have its own navy. The landlocked Vatican is surrounded by the city of Rome, Italy. It has been home to the pope’s since the late 14th century.

Each Wednesday morning when the weather is fair, the Pope presents himself to the faithful, and to the merely curious, in the magnificent piazza before St. Peter’s Basilica. Here the Roman Catholic Church, in the person of this absolute monarch who is its breathing symbol, touches the world.

Apart from the Pope and the cardinals, the most famous class within the Vatican is the Swiss Guard, who are so picturesquely evident in all ceremonies involving the Pope. The guard is responsible for the Pope’s protection.

The Vatican City is itself of great cultural significance. Buildings such as St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel are home to some of the most beautiful art in the world, which includes works by artists such as Botticelli, Bernini and Michelangelo. The Vatican Library and the collections of the Vatican Museums are of the highest historical, scientific and cultural importance.

For hundreds of years, the Catholic Church has simultaneously displayed wealth and pleaded poverty. The church possesses countless treasures, but its dioceses are always scraping to build a new school or pay the electric bill.

The only thing that is certain about the assets of the Vatican is that it is vast. It has extensive international investment, notably in real estate.

The Vatican’s survival depends on the extraordinary devotion of ordinary men and women.

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Wyoming is an Indian word, but it is not from the Shoshone or the Arapaho, which are the local Indians. It is from the language of Delaware Indians, who named Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley. The name means “big river flats” and is a fitting one for this state that has a series of dry basin floors between the Continental Divide.

This is state is a natural cathedral of endless prairies and mountains and in the far northwest corner of the state the sudden majesty of the Tetons borders the grandiose of all parks, Yellowstone.

There are no big cities in this state to write about since the entire state is a population of 501,242 according to the Census Bureau as of 2003. Cheyenne, Wyoming is the largest city.

Between the sage brush in the center of the state there are gas wellheads and pipeline stations. Just by drilling a water well one can hit gas and discover a blue flame from their faucet. One story which may be more fiction than fact tells of a man lighting a cigarette in his cellar and blowing himself right outside to the open spaces of Montana. Although coal is under 55 percent of Wyoming the greatest area for coal is the Powder River basin. It is estimated that at a site owned by ARCO about a ton a second is mined. Every day they can fill up eight or nine trains with each train being a mile long.

The major event of the professional rodeo circuit is Cheyenne’s “Frontier Days”. This is the frontier that in the 1800’s, great trappers such as Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, and the famous Kit Carson, made fortunes trapping beavers for pelts. Cheyenne’s “Frontier Days” represents those days of Wyoming history and their major event in that commemoration is the professional rodeo circuit which ranks this event as their most important rodeo of their season.

The world’s smallest hitchhiker is the lowly flea. This is a parasite whose main goal in its short life of a few weeks to a year is to find a host and hitchhike. This microscopic creature performs this feat through the use of antennae and bristles sensitive to vibration, heat and air currents. The carbon dioxide of a passing host as it is exhaled also helps this hitchhiker.

In order to cling to its host who attempts to reject him by being attacked with tooth and claw the flea is armored with clinging power. They have living burrs studded with bristles and combs. They can maneuver between fur hairs because their bodies are flat from side to side. They have a blood-siphoning tube which is a saw like lance that penetrates the skin. Some fleas are permanent hitchhikers sucking whenever hungry and others hop on to other hosts.

While on the host the female chigoe flea of South and Central America as well as Africa expands from the size of a pinhead to the size of a pea in eight to ten days filling with eggs. If a male is in the proximity of her and mates hundreds of eggs she releases will be fertile.

There are more than 2,400 species and subspecies. The majority live on mammals with a few living on birds. Fleas are categorized according to their movement patterns: sedentary fleas, stick-fleas and mobile fleas which we know best.

The rabbit populations of Australia and Europe in the 1950’s were almost exterminated by the flea. The mosquito transmitted the viral disease from Australia to Great Britain.

Man is the best host for the mobile flea because we have clothing allowing the flea to hide. The fleas seem to prefer women. Perhaps they have a hormone that attracts them. Further study of this hitchhiker of mankind will have to determine their preference for this gender.

Monsanto may sound like a computer created name, but it is actually the maiden name of the founder’s wife, John Francis Queeney.  Queeney was a thirty year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry.

Roundup is currently the companies best selling product world wide. 70% of the world’s genetically engineered crop supply are produced by Monsanto. They genetically engineered a seed that would be bug-resistant and even tolerate Roundup.

The first artificial sweetener was saccharin which Monsanto manufactured and its beginning output was sold entirely to Coca-Cola. Caffeine and vanilla were other products they added to soft drinks of which they were the major provider.

Plastics and synthetic fibers became their leading products in the 1940’s. Since the 1940’s Monsanto has been one of the top 10 US chemical compnanies. Other major products have been aspartame, known as NutraSweet and Agent Orange.

Environmentalists have targeted Monsanto in a wide range of lawsuits. They have been sued by the government over the safety of saccharin and lost $700 million in damages to thousands of Alabama residents who were polluted by Monsanto’s PCB pyproducts.

In spite of challenging lawsuits, Monsanto remains a huge multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation.

The traditional American Native wooden flutes produce the most soothing and peaceful voice a woodwind can give. Hand carved from cedar, spruce, redwood, walnut, birch, red cedar, and more, you will find the end of most of these has a woodblock carved as a bear, eagle, horse, bird; or your own animal spirit can even be carved for you to order. Using stone inlays, wood carving, feathers and more, the modern flutemaker will strive to provide you the instrument of your dreams. This timeless piece of our history and tradition is now easily available for you to enjoy and participate in. There are websites to buy pre-carved flutes, webrings to advertise and share the music, and commercial recordings and concerts make it easier to find and enjoy this traditional music. Still considered to be healing, spiritually up-lifting & meditative, many of these songs have been shared and passed down thru generations.

Many of the flutemakers belong to groups that play regulary and get together with other artists and players. This is your own chance to learn from the carvers and musicians how to use this wonderfull tool.

Switzerland is a land blessed with unusual contentment. Picture-book dairy farms dot the rolling green hills. Yodeling can still be heard above the lowing of the cattle and the clanging of their elaborately decorated bells. Apple trees are in blossom and old wooden farmhouses punctuate the landscape. Welcome to picturesque Switzerland (Car Hire Switzerland).

Numerous rivers and an abundance of lakes is an assurance that no part of Switzerland lies far from water. About two third of the area of Switzerland is covered with forests, lakes and mountains The Swiss landscape is characterized by the Alps, a high mountain range running across the central-south of the country. Amongst the high peaks of the Swiss Alps, the highest of which is the Dufour Peak at 4,634 m.

The Swiss have pride in their tiny country. The country would neatly fit in twice in the state of Indiana. They are proud of their achievements. This is a society that speaks four national languages united not by culture but by will.

Services are the most important part of the economy. This includes banking, assurances and tourism .People with wealth seek to put it in Switzerland. The countries stability and their bank secrecy laws continue to attract wealth

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Often referred to as the Father of the United States Financial System, Alexander Hamilton is one of the few Founding Fathers who does not have a major monument in his honor. Perhaps it is because of the fact that he died while dueling against Aaron Burr, or because of his sometimes caustic personality, or perhaps because he was often the target of rumors and scandal. Whatever the reason, many have responded that if Alexander Hamilton does not a specific monument, the existence of the United States itself is the greatest monument to Alexander Hamilton’s vision of a powerful and rich future based on free commerce and industry.

Alexander Hamilton was born under humble circumstances on the Caribbean island of Nevis in 1755. After financial difficulties, his mother moved to the Virgin Island where she owned a small shop. He grew up poor, and with little opportunities. All the same Alexander Hamilton was noticed by some important residents of the island, and was given a scholarship to go to New York to study. He arrived in tumultuous times. Revolution was in the air, and Hamilton immediately gravitated to the revolutionary cause.

When the American War of Independence began, Hamilton was in the thick of it. His cool head and professional demeanor drew the attention of General George Washington. Soon Hamilton became Washington chief aide. During the Battle of Yorktown, Hamilton was given command of one of the assault teams that overran a vital British fortification, and Hamilton became a hero of the Revolution.

When the war was over, Alexander Hamilton returned to New York and completed his studies to be a lawyer. His law practice thrived, but Hamilton himself was deeply dissatisfied. He saw the loose confederation of states that existed after the Revolution and its weak central government as a terrible danger that would lead the newly independent nation to disaster. As such he was one of the first proponents of strengthening the federal government. When a Constitutional Convention was called, he was one of the delegates from New York and actively participated in the drafting of what was to become one of the most important documents in the history of mankind. It was during the ratification process of the Constitution that Hamilton’s star shone brightest. Of the three authors who contributed to the vitally important Federalist Papers, Hamilton’s contribution was by far the most profound.

After the Constitution was adopted, in large measure due to the efforts of Alexander Hamilton, George Washington was elected President. Alexander Hamilton became the first Secretary of the Treasury, and inherited a financial catastrophe. The country was heavily in debt, had no established method of raising revenue, and was close to ruin. His tireless efforts created the first tax system, encouraged a “national” economy, and helped to stabilize the financial markets at a time when chaos was the norm.

Soon Alexander Hamilton became leader of the Federalist Party, a position which brought him into direct conflict with the Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson. The animosity between Hamilton and the Republicans initially stemmed from differing ideologies and visions on how the United States should be governed, but soon grew to profound personal hatreds that went far beyond simple ideological rifts. In the end, Aaron Burr, a frustrated Republican, challenged Hamilton to a duel in July of 1804, and with one shot ended Alexander Hamilton’s life.

3M began in 1902 with the intent of mining mineral deposits to be used as an abrasive for grinding wheels. The mining did not pan out and the company moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1910. Their new flagship product was a waterproof sandpaper. This met success in automobile manufacturing since this type of sandpaper did not cause dust.

There second major product was the invention of masking tape in 1925. This was the first of now a long line of Scotch® Pressure-Sensitive Tapes. In the following years new research developed the Scotch® Cellophane Tape for box sealing which is now and extensive line of Cellophane tapes.

Post it ® notes was a solution waiting for a problem. The formula was made to put sticky glue on the back of a piece of paper that could be taken on and off of a surface. It was Art Fry who while singing in the church choir noticed that his bookmark would fall out of his hymnal and he would lose the page. He tried using this new sticky note product and the world now has found countless additional uses for this new product named Post it® notes.

Today 3M, is an $18 billion diversified technology company with operations in more than 60 countries and serve customers in 200 countries. They have dominant positions in consumer and office products , display and graphics; electronics and telecommunications, health care, industrial, safety, security and protection services and transportation

3M is one of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average and also is a component of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

America’s birth as an independent and lustily growing young nation took place when Boone was in his prime, and events of the country’s early life are intertwined with his. Daniel Boone (1734-1820), was a famous American pioneer and frontiersman who blazed the Wilderness Trail and founded Boonesborough, Kentucky.

In 1769, Boone blazed the first known trail from North Carolina to Tennessee. Boone spent the next two years hunting and exploring in Kentucky, where he was captured twice by Indians and escaped both times.

One myth about this first hero of the frontier is that he wore a coonskin cap. He was a Quaker and preferred the wide brimmed beaver that Quakers wore.

Boone represents the frontiersman– a strong, silent figure moving swiftly through virgin timber, sighting a deer, felling it with one shot of his flintlock.

Daniel married Rebecca Bryan, by most reports a tall brunette, who was to be his wife for 56 years. Of her ten children, two were killed by Indians. She could mold bullets, shoot a flintlock, and skin a deer.

A contemporary relates that after one long absence hunting and exploring, Daniel returned to find a new child in Rebecca’s arms. She confessed that one of his brothers was the father. Well,” Bone reportedly replied, “If the name’s the same, it’s all the same,” and he loved the child as his own.

To the end of his days, he hunted and trapped the western reaches–some say he went as far as the Yellowstone country. Rebecca died March 18,1813, and Daniel lived 85 years. He lived his last years with his children.

In 1807, John Colter of the Lewis and Clark expedition walked through the Yellowstone and Grand Teton region. It is nearly 200 years later and one can walk this region and view in wonder almost every species he would have seen. 18 species of carnivores including wolves, black and grizzly bears, 7 species of hoofed mammals, 22 species of rodents, and more than 300 species of birds not to mention the 900 species of flowering plants.

The two worlds of summer and winter in this magnificent region require the migration of animals and birds. Migrations are a necessary requirement for these species to survive the two worlds of winter and summer. Hawks and humming birds may migrate as far as Central and South America.

The Grand Teton National Park is on an expansive 310,000 acre tract of managed nature that covers from the Rocky Mountains to the valley of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Geysers such as the famous Old Faithful which one can set his clock by and mud pots and river valleys make up this awe inspiring part of the world.

The birth of this magnificent scenery began about 13 million years ago which was a time of violent earthquakes that eventually created the Teton range. Glaciers more than 12,000 years ago carved the canyons and formed steep peaks the highest of which is the Grand Teton over a mile above the flatlands. The myriad forms of wildlife continue to reform the scenery with their grazing, nesting, birthing and hunting through this treasured landscape.

Without the companionship of the moose, magpies swans and so many others the scenery would be beautiful but a lonely place for humans to come to. Take out the sounds of ducks in the rivers and the trilling of the blackbird and an integral part of this beauty is lost.