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Vera Wang is just about the most famous designer when it comes to wedding gowns. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising that many Hollywood brides would want their wedding gown to be designed by Wang. This is because Wang has certainly built a strong reputation for herself in the industry. Interestingly, Wang’s first love is not really bridal fashion. Rather, it was ice skating that first caught the fancy of Wang, which she ultimately gave up to focus on her career in fashion. More interestingly, it was her own futile search for the perfect gown for her own wedding that provoked Wang to design her own wedding gown. Since then, she has become the largest name in bridal fashion industry.

Wang’s first ever job in the fashion industry was actually at the fashion magazine Vogue. She became the assistant to then fashion director Polly Mellen. During her time there, she studied everything that she could about the industry, and it did not take long for her to become the fashion director of the magazine itself, at the young age of 23. She stayed in the position for 16 long years, but then realized that she wasn’t really focusing on designing clothes as planned. She decided to leave her job at Vogue and became a designer for accessories at Ralph Lauren.

Now that she had time for a more personal life, it was then that she met Arthur Becker, whom she wed in the late 1980s. While going through numerous wedding magazines in search for the perfect wedding gown, Wang was quite dismayed because the gowns did not have anything special to them. She then felt that strong itch to fill what was missing. In 1990, Wang launched her own business through the financial backing of her father. It did not take long for the business to make waves, primarily because Wang took to more than preparing just the wedding gown for the bride. Shoes, jewelry, hairstyles, and more were handled by Wang as well.

Soon after, Wang expanded her market to evening wear, and has designed dresses for many Hollywood stars, including Meg Ryan, Whoopi Goldberg, Helen Hunt, Holly Hunter, and Charlize Theron. She also released her signature fragrance in the spring of 2002 and has since then been the favorite of millions worldwide.

Browse all Vera Wang Perfumes at our Mens and Womens Fragrance Store. Also, read more about Vera Wang fragrances by visiting us at PerfumeCenter.com

During his recent interview with pastor Rick Warren, Senator John McCain described General David Petraeus as a “great leader. . .who took us from defeat to victory in Iraq.” Obviously, General Petraeus deserves all the acclaim he is usually afforded by citizens and politicians alike for making the Surge an effective strategy. The Surge, together with the Sunni Awakening and the stand-down by Shiite militias, have successfully reduced violence in Iraq. But what must have surprised some is McCain’s claim to have achieved “victory” in Iraq. Previously, the Senator has repeatedly stated that he will never leave Iraq until US and Coalition forces had achieved “victory.” McCain has chided Senator Obama for trading votes for victory, for wanting to leave Iraq before we had a chance to win, thus not putting America first-something McCain claims he will always do. Now, it seems as if we have done exactly that-achieved “victory.” Has McCain suddenly realized that we have achieved his end goal? We are left to wonder if we have, indeed, achieved “victory,” what do we do now? What is our exit strategy? Did he mean that the Surge has “worked”? And that now we must move on toward “victory”? Or did he simply mis-speak? Did he, perhaps, mean to use a different verb tense-not “took us to victory” but rather “is leading us toward victory.”

If the latter be the case, what then constitutes “victory” in Iraq? The Administration is always speaking about “the facts or conditions on the ground.” So what are those conditions or facts that warrant declaring victory? Perhaps they include some or all of the following: Numbers of casualties Binding agreements amongst Shia, Sunni and Kurd Viable oil sharing laws Conducting future elections Using oil resources to fund reconstruction Functioning of civic organizations-free press, keeping schools open, viable market place and availability of electricity, water, sewage Having Iraqi armed forces fully “stand up” to their own defense Security of borders and absence of terrorist sanctuaries Productive relations with neighbors Support for the United States Perhaps these are the sum total of the kind of security we hope for in Iraq.

And, if we haven’t quite achieved “victory,” what is our strategy for doing so? We are now withdrawing Surge forces. Prime Minister Maliki has agreed to some kind of time table withdrawal. We haven’t heard of a new strategy from Senator McCain. Senator Obama’s objectives are quite different, obviously. This doesn’t mean that Obama is any less patriotic. He analyzes the problem differently. And, we should note that “victory” may just be an outworn concept for this “war on terror.” There will be no signing on the forward starboard main deck of the USS Missouri as there was in Tokyo Bay on 2 September, 1945. There will be no Paris Peace Accords that terminated the Vietnam conflict in January, 1973. Whatever “victory” looks like it is certain, as Petraeus and others have told us, it will be achieved not only by military power but the force of diplomacy, discussions, the very hard work of reaching agreements amongst disparate groups and power sources. So, Senator McCain, have we indeed achieved “victory” or are we still working toward it with a strategy you and others have not clearly articulated? The key to preserving our democracy is to continually ask politicians important questions about policy, philosophy and performance. We must, as Dr. Sally Ride has said of a NASA manager, be “inquisitive to a fault.” We must keep asking serious questions of all who would be in government-questions about philosophy, priorities and, especially, performance. This is our only guard against the tyranny of a few, our only means of preserving our democracy.

John Barell Author, Quest For Antarctica-A Journey of Wonder and Discovery (2007) http://www.morecuriousminds.com

John Barell is a national consultant to schools desiring to foster inquiry, critical thinking and authentic assessment in classrooms for all students. He is author most recently of Why Are School Buses Always Yellow? (2008); Surviving Erebus–An Antarctic Adventure (2008); Quest for Antarctica–A Journey of Wonder and Discovery (2007) and “Inquisitive to a Fault”–Preserving American Democracy. http://www.morecuriousminds.com

The Scottish castle Slanes, serving as a prototype of the Dracula castle, is going to become a rest home.

Solemn ruins of the castle cast a weird shadow on the rocky coastline, where according to the legend spirits of the drowned sailors come out of waters once a year.

The 16th century castle situated on a steep slope has been repaired more than 70 years. It was at peak of its fullest flower when the writer Bram Stoker visited it in 1890s. At present this roofless castle is getting ready to be transformed into a rest home with 35 rooms for tourists and vampire hunters.

The proposal to renew the ruins was made a long time ago, but the usual red tape had almost frustrated the plans. However contractors declare that construction works shall begin in 2008.

“The project is rather complicated and its implementation shall demand a long time. Construction works are sure to begin the nest year. We want to restore the initial view of the castle. It shall become that very caste that had once inspired Bram Stoker, rather than a pile of ruins”, – Douglas Forrest, the new project architect says.

Several years Stocker used to visit the place called Cruden Bay, where he rented a small house overlooking the castle. It is known that he has written at least four other stories, inspired by local legends.

Arming themselves with archival documents, hundreds of photos of the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, as well as with original location plans, designers hope to reconstruct the castle with 100% accuracy.

“North East Scotland shall undoubtedly get financial benefit from a project like the Slanes Castle. Besides the American multimillionaire Donald Trump proposed to build a recreation area close to the castle”, added Forrest.

Iuri Tarabanov writes about interesting travel experiences. His Travel Directions site is http://www.travelime.com

Fidel Castro has been a thorn in the side of the United States for nearly 5-decades, one of our nearest neighbors, a communist country. Many citizens of Cuba, have fled to freedom to find sanctuary in the United States, and who could blame them? Fidel Castro took over the Cuban government in a revolution and he promised to give the country back to the people, but when the dust had settled, Fidel Castro, gave the country to himself.

This should come as no surprise and certainly this is not the first time in history it has happened. Unfortunately, his rule lasted 50-years, people had been born, lived their natural lives under Fidel Castro, and never knew true freedom, even though it was only 80 miles away. Some took that fateful journey and fled to the US. Most of those Cuban-Americans would certainly like to see Cuba turned into a Democracy.

We need a free Cuba, and those in Cuba deserve to control their own destinies and enjoy liberty and freedom, just like any country. The US should move now to give Cuba back to the people, then open up free-trade, tourism and create win-win partnerships. All this could take place in a very short amount of time with the right will power and leadership with the strength of character to make it so.

Imagine what we could do for Cuba right now. So close, so simple and such a wonderful gift, that we could bring to give that nation back to those who long to be free, desire liberty and deserve a better quality of life; folks the time is now, its time to put Fidel Castro into the history books and continue our mission for the betterment of humankind. Think on this for a moment please, we owe it to our neighbors who have waited oh so long.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance’s Bio