GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:
1) No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize cats.
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don’t let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.
6) Don’t sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time. Read the rest of this entry »
Central banks in eurozone, Mexico, and Turkey cut rates
Stocks staged a bounce Friday morning after the U.S. government agreed to a $138 billion bailout of Bank of America. However that upbeat news was not enough to reverse the week’s selloff, which was sparked by a steady stream of data signaling and even deeper recession. Read the rest of this entry »
I am sure that tongues were wagging at water coolers around many schools today, and rightfully so. Cuts are coming. Schools face the prospect of layoffs because of declining enrollments and cutbacks in funding from the state. Several counties have already begun closing underused schools.
As one superintendent said, “It may get uglier before it gets better.”
In Clay County, School Board members will be wrestling with a proposal to eliminate some 115 positions at a savings of $6.3 million for the 2009-2010 school year.
”We have no growth,” Superintendent Ben Wortham told board members at their regular meeting Thursday night. (Jan. 15) as he laid out a plan to reduce the district budget by $10.5 million due to a decline in state funding.
I have to admit I am a big fan of the hit TV show, American Idol. But then, who isn’t? Maybe I don’t fit the ideal profile of an Idol-izer (Get it? Idol-izer!), but let’s not forget that musical competitions are not all that new to television. You can go as far back as the 1950s to see such shows as the “Original Amateur Hour,” which showcased America’s young musical talent.
Idol reminds me, too, of some of the variety shows that used to be a staple of early television (much like reality shows are today) such as “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “The Carol Burnett Show.” Those shows presented some of the hit acts of the day (Idol does, too, with their guest celebrities) and sketch comedy (don’t tell me that you aren’t amused by the antics of some of the so-called Idol wannabes.) Read the rest of this entry »
One of the many waterways down a sawgrass river in the Everglades.
A few years ago, my wife and I spent a week in Naples at her father’s time share condo. It was June and it was hot, a perfect time to visit the Everglades National Park, which was about an hour or so away. Maybe a little more.
Naples was beautiful, as was Fort Myers to the north but the Everglades is what attracted my photographer’s soul. It was a beautiful, nearly cloudless day, and where sky met water crystal clear reflection pools mirrored the image. Read the rest of this entry »
I don’t think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Grandma’s apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children’s tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears. Read the rest of this entry »
There are two things of immense importance to me (other than my immediate family): golf and spending time with my grandchildren.
Recently I discovered a way to do both without breaking the bank. I had always wanted to take my two grandsons who live nearby to play but hesitated because of the costs involved. If you are like me and exist on a shoestring budget, playing golf is enough of a financial burden without adding two more paying customers to the tab.
24. Yellow Pages — This year will be pivotal for the global Yellow Pages industry. Much like newspapers, print Yellow Pages will continue to bleed dollars to their various digital counterparts, from Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs), to local search engines and combination search/listing services like Reach Local and Yodle Factors like an acceleration of the print ‘fade rate’ and the looming recession will contribute to the onslaught. One research firm predicts the falloff in usage of newspapers and print Yellow Pages could even reach 10 percent this year, much higher than the 2%-3% fade rate seen in past years.
23. Classified Ads — The Internet has made so many things obsolete that newspaper classified ads might sound like just another trivial item on a long list. But this is one of those harbingers of the future that could signal the end of civilization as we know it. The argument is that if newspaper classifieds are replaced by free online listings at sites like Craigslist.org and Google Base, then newspapers are not far behind them. Read the rest of this entry »
posted
Jan 19, 2009 by Lamar Thames
