Dennis Hope has been called many things – visionary, ‘Head Cheese’, entrepreneur, eccentric, but he prefers President – The Galatic Government. In a world where your title is more important than your job even Mr Blair with his official title of Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service can’t really compete with Dennis Hope.

So how did Dennis Hope, a one-time ventriloquist from Nebraska, manage to get such a prestigious title, well 25 years ago Dennis discovered a small loop hole in International Law, a loop hole that led to him owning the moon – that’s right Dennis Hope owns the moon. In fact Dennis Hope claims to own all planetary and lunar surfaces (aside from the Earth) in our solar system.

During the sixties when the first space treaties were signed the language that was used informed the world that no one country could claim ownership to any lunar territory. All of the countries of the world agreed and ratified the treaty. This is where Dennis came in, being a man and not a country Dennis wrote letters to the United Nations, the United States government and the government of the former Soviet Union informing them that he was officially claiming ownership of all planetary and lunar surfaces (aside from the Earth) in our solar system.  He even gave them the opportunity to respond if they had objections, and as crazy as it sounds, he hasn't heard a word from any of them since.

In fact Dennis is so confident of his claim of ownership that he has parceled up the surface of the moon and several other planets and is busily marketing it to the rest of the world. And he's been pursuing this as not just a novelty sale, but a serious real estate transaction (complete with covenants and bylaws that prevent the unsightly or trivial usage of the property). Several major corporations have bought land from him in case he is proved right.  His sales are accelerating, and within a couple of years he anticipates he'll have a constituency in the millions - enough to put serious pressure on the UN and the U.S. to recognize the government of Luna.

Good luck Dennis

Dennis Hope has given me nearly 1,800 acres of the moon on which to establish my new country, clearly this somewhat dwarfs the .68th of an acre that currently forms my flat..,I mean country. This new territory will serve me well if my population exceeds 65 people (on the basis of a recent knees up this is approximately the amount of people I can fit in my flat).

Obviously transport links, a climate that goes from blisteringly hot to freezing cold in seconds, and a general lack of breathable air could be a bit of a problem. However I am confident if some of my brave new citizens are interested in forming the Ministry of Travel & Space with the portfolio for working out exactly how the hell we get to the moon - we can quickly overcome these obstacles. I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

In the meantime check out the area on the Moon that my new country has established -fortunately it is not on the dark side.[Pic of Map with arrows?]

Dennis, my new country salutes you and thanks you for your very generous gift.