Hi samwik:

For me there is a serious difference between the universe and space. People try to define what they see and come up with what appears to be convincing theories. Recall Corpernicus? I can read historical data that sounds impressive and very congratulatory upon others observations of his conclusions.

I am sure that you have an excellent grasp of the subject- likely much better than anything that I would be offering.

To suggest that the universe is expanding is like saying that space itself is expanding. Otherwise I expect a distinction to be made between space and the universe. I want an endless space that may contain a limited universe- or not. Every time we invent a better telescope for orbitting we see more objects. I contend that the leaders do not have the foggiest idea of the size of our enviornment in terms of space. It's almost a little childish.

Assuming, without concedeing or accepting, that the red shift is a valid measure of objects movements then there may be some basis to conclude that objects are moving away from us. If for fun we say "no way", then we need to show what is wrong with the conclusion. They, the aristocrats of astronomy, are not really interested in looking into the question. It is very comforting to be right; something I can not claim to enjoy in all of my interests.
jjw