A Thought for a Very Hot Day

30 01 2009

The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in the morning feeling just plain terrible.

Jean Kerr
1922 – 2003
American playwright and author



Teaching and Learning

30 01 2009

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.

Winston Churchill
1874 – 1965. British politician.



Education and Life

29 01 2009

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.

John Dewey
1859 – 1952. American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer

Starting next week I will also be having a word of the day and perhaps a song of the day. These won’t take a lot of our time but I figure a smattering of these things is part of a good education.



Recessions and The Great Depression

28 01 2009

A lot of people are saying this will be the worst recession we’ve experienced since the Great Depression of the 1930s. This may prove to be true. After all, it was true of the last recession, in the early ’90s, and also the one before it in the early ’80s.

But no matter how bad this recession proves to be, it’s a safe prediction it won’t be nearly as bad as the Depression, when the rate of unemployment leapt to more than 20 per cent. So don’t let the talk of depression spook you.

Recessions don’t have to be feared | theage.com.au

When I have had history classes in the last couple of years we have learned and talked about The Great Depression. Often in these classes students will ask if it could happen again and I remember saying that it would at some stage.

With this in mind, this can be scary time to read the newspaper. However this article seems a sensible take on things and I’d recommend you give it a quick read.



Stuff and Nonsense

28 01 2009

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.”

Dr. Seuss
US author & illustrator (1904 – 1991)

Via The Quotations Page



Good and Original

27 01 2009

“Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.”

Samuel Johnson
English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 – 1784)

via The Quotations Page



Australia Day

26 01 2009

“God bless America. God save the Queen. God defend New Zealand and thank Christ for Australia.”

Russell Crowe
Australian actor born in New Zealand