Gross domestic product, a broad measure of the total value of goods and services produced in a given economy, has been expanding for the last year, leading many economists to believe the recession  that began in December 2007 is technically over.

Still, G.D.P growth in the last quarter of 2009 — at an annual rate of 5 percent — was much more robust than it has been this year. This slowdown, coupled with disappointing job creation, has led to worries that the recovery is losing steam. The nation’s unemployment rate continues to linger just below 10 percent.

Here’s a HUGE reason why there is a slowdown and unemployment is so high:

I CAN’T PRAY?

Also:

without support from many parents ( When I was a student, If I got in trouble at school I got in more trouble at home)

with dwindling budgets and support

with the threat of losing my job if students perform poorly on state, federal or provincial tests (which  are a waste of money and time)

with a great deal of stress

with a huge workload

with low status

after 5 years of College or University Education

No wonder there are so many emails making the rounds about, WHY TEACHERS DRINK!

While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, ‘The tooth fairy will never believe this!’

School would have been much more interesting if my teachers had taught “stuff” like this!

Subject: Manure

Manure:  In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be

transported by ship and it was also before commercial fertilizer ’s

invention, so large shipments of manure were common.

It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than

when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, it not only became heavier,

but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by product is

methane gas.

As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles you can see what could

(and did) happen.

Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone came

below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM!

Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was determined

just what was happening.

After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the term

‘ Ship High In Transit ‘ on them, which meant for the sailors to stow

it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into

the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production

of methane.

Thus evolved the term ‘ S.H.I.T ‘, (Ship High In Transit) which has

come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day.

You probably did not know the true history of this word.

Neither did I.

I had always thought it was a golf term!

Senator John McCain

What he really said is:

Money is more important than our future.

It’s not our plan, it’s the Democrats, so we wont vote for it.

I want to get elected again so I’d rather be in office than save the planet.

Environmentalists said the decision to delay action on the broad climate legislation marked a serious setback.

“It would seem like the longest of long shots to me because the window for opportunity in the fall before the election season goes into high gear is very small,” said Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, an activist group.

So let’s start over or let’s debate some more, or let’s do nothing. Good work, John.

Wonder why my teachers never taught this?

Manure:  In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be

transported by ship and it was also before commercial fertilizer ’s

invention, so large shipments of manure were common.

It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than

when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, it not only became heavier,

but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by product is

methane gas.

As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles you can see what could

(and did) happen.

Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone came

below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM!

Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was determined

just what was happening.

After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the term

‘ Ship High In Transit ‘ on them, which meant for the sailors to stow

it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into

the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production

of methane.

Thus evolved the term ‘ S.H.I.T ‘, (Ship High In Transit) which has

come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day.

You probably did not know the true history of this word.

Neither did I.

I had always thought it was a golf term!

Elvis was rocking at the Collingwood Elvis Festival this past weekend. Final numbers are not in but it certainly looked like one of the most successful Festivals yet!

Images of the Elvis Festival

Amazon.com announced Monday that for the last three months, sales of books for its e-reader, the Kindle, outnumbered sales of hardcover books.

In that time, Amazon said, it sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books, including hardcovers for which there is no Kindle edition.

The pace of change is quickening, too, Amazon said. In the last four weeks sales rose to 180 digital books for every 100 hardcover copies. Amazon has 630,000 Kindle books, a small fraction of the millions of books sold on the site.

Book lovers mourning the demise of hardcover books with their heft and their musty smell need a reality check, said Mike Shatzkin, founder and chief executive of the Idea Logical Company, which advises book publishers on digital change. “This was a day that was going to come, a day that had to come,” he said. He predicts that within a decade, fewer than 25 percent of all books sold will be print versions.

Books Then and Now

“The road to knowledge begins with the turn of the page.” Anonymous

Today:

“The road to knowledge begins with the press of a button.” JC

Past:

“A library, to modify the famous metaphor of Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas—a place where history comes to life.” Norman Cousins

“A good library is a palace where the lofty spirits of all nations and generations meet.”Samuel Niger

Today:

“A good library will fit in the palm of your hand.” JC

Quotes about Books and e-books

“A book is a human-powered film projector (complete with feature film) that advances at a speed fully customized to the viewer’s mood or fancy. This rare harmony between object and user arises from the minimal skills required to manipulate a bound sequence of pages. Each piece of paper embodies a corresponding instant of time which remains frozen until liberated by the act of turning a page.” The Reactive Square - John Maeda

“We read about 1,000 times more than we write.” Xerox PARC – Rich Gold

“We think of an eBook as an intelligent pet.” BeeHive Hypertext - Talan Memmot

“It took people 10 years to figure out that while stuck in a morning commute, they could be listening to a book.” Publishers Weekly- Paul Hilts

“Change can be scary. When papyrus replaced clay tablets, and the Gutenberg press calligraphy, did a bit of panic set in? Are we in the midst of a revolution of similar proportion? Very probably.” Susan McLester

“We should not see print and electronic literature as in competition, but rather in conversation. The more voices that join in, the richer the dialogue is likely to be.”

N. Katherine Hayles

“I cannot live without books.” Thomas Jefferson