On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

‘Ms.. Cothren, where are our desks?’

She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’

They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’  ‘No,’ she said.

‘Maybe it’s our behavior.’ She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your behavior.’

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, thirdperiod. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren’s classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats onthe floor of the desk-less classroom, Martha Cothren said, “‘Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom.”

“Now I am going to tell you.’”

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-nine (29) War Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk.  The Vets began placing the school desks in the classroom, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall … by the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those students started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned…

Martha said, ‘You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your  responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They and their comrades paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.’

This has been verified on Snopes and is a true story.
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp

This came across my desk and makes such good sense I’m passing it on here.

A physics teacher in high school, once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn’t slow a train very much, a billion of them would.  With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good Canadian.   A good idea . . . one light bulb at a time…
Check this out.  I can verify this because I was in Lowe’s the other day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments . They were all made in China. The next day I was in Home Hardware and just for the heck of it, I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in Canada.  Start looking.

My grandson likes Hershey’s candy . I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now. I do not buy it any more . My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico now. I have switched to Crest.

This past weekend I was at Wal-mart . I needed 60W light bulbs . I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled, “Everyday Value. ” I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats – they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE is made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in – get ready for this – in Canada in a company in Ontario.

You have to read the labels on everything.

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else – even their job. I think this lady is on the right track.   So, after reading this, let’s all get behind her!

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here.  My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in Canada – the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying Canadian, one light bulb at a time!  Stop buying from overseas companies!

(We should have awakened a decade ago . . . . . . )

Let’s get with the program . . . . help our fellow Canadians keep their jobs and create more jobs here in Canada.

The Rurban Fringe ‘Eat Local’ Challenge: Summary. Interesting reading from The Rurban Fringe on shopping local – it will take a change in our thinking to make real change in the market place.

When contacting the Xplornet Support Center, the new Milton dedicated toll free number is 1-866-317-1871 and is available 24/7.

Xplornet is also reaching out to our Milton customers who have contacted our Support Line recently to advise them of this new dedicated toll free number and will continue to contact these customers to ensure they are aware of the importance of their requests, inquiries, etc.

A burning permit is law, is required as part of the Ontario Fire Code, and isn’t just a local Milton requirement.   The burning permit process is now conveniently accessible on-line, payable on your Visa or Mastercard and the fee hasn’t changed…still $25.00. This saves residents from having to come all the way to the Central station kiosk, although this is still an option.

Campfires/Burning Permits
A rural open-air burning permit must be obtained, unless the fire is small, confined, supervised, and used for cooking only. These permits can now be obtained on line at www.milton.ca. Fire pits should be located in an open area and surrounded by rocks or a metal container. An adult should always be attending and supervising any open fire. Do not allow horseplay or playing with the fire.  Wear appropriate clothing; loose clothes could catch fire. At the end of the campfire, ALL embers should be completely extinguished with water.

A post secondary presence was deemed crucial to the town in both Destiny Milton I and II.  In 2000 a committee out of the Economic Development Office was struck for the purpose of pursuing various options. On Feb 17/07, surplus land on Main St, (5 ac. parcel east of where Loblaws used to be) was designated by council for the purpose of attracting a post secondary institution to Milton.

As a result of a communications campaign which elicited varying degrees of expressions of interest, it was determined that 5 ac. was too limiting for future expansion and for the development of a complete campus.

After meetings with various parties, including the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, it was determined that a preferred option would be one that could integrate the theoretic, technical and possibly a research park component.  It was also suggested that kind of environment would likely receive greater financial consideration.

Enter Mattamy Homes, who signed an agreement giving the Town the right to acquire a 150 ac parcel from Mattamy in exchange for the 5 ac downtown parcel.  The 150 ac are located on the west side of Tremaine, just north of Britannia.

Council last night approved a number of recommendations that will begin the planning process which, it is hoped, will result in a university being built in Milton in 2010.

Click for Milton Education Village official press release

Consider this:

• The federal government has rejected attempts to implement a national water strategy;
• NDP Peggy Nash failed to get a motion through the commons to recognize water “as a fundamental right” of Canadians, as well as prohibiting bulk export and imposing restrictions on new diversions;
• Water is not covered by NAFTA, it is unprotected and indistinguishable from any other commodity, service or investment and can be treated as such.
  • All it takes to set a NAFTA precedent is for one province to allow bulk export and various NAFTA clauses – those dealing with “national treatment” and “proportional sharing” – kick in. Once the taps have been turned on, they cannot be turned off.
  • In essence, according to Linda Diebel (a writer/journalist whom I respect very much), “no future Canadian government could legally provide water to its own citizens until American needs have been met – even in times of national emergency.  Worse, environmental lawyer Steven Shrybman has pointed out that water export controls are prohibited under NAFTA and the WTO”.

http://www.canadians.org/integratethis/backgrounders/guide/water.html - Click the link for a whole lot more information and points of view from the Council of Canadians.

According to a government website: The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) was launched in March of 2005 as a trilateral effort to increase security and enhance prosperity among the United States, Canada and Mexico through greater cooperation and information sharing.

The SPP – which is being implemented without any public or parliamentary scrutiny – is about eliminating Canada’s ability to set its own independent regulatory standards, environmental protection measures, energy security, foreign, military, immigration and a frighteningly wide range of other policies. 

Even the Americans have concerns about the closed door process.

But why are all the talks behind closed doors?  Why are all parties not involved? Why is only “Big Business” in on the discussions?  Will big business consider the ramifications of a deal based on what’s best for the country, or what’s best for their business?  Hmmm.

We should all be asking our MPs where they, and their party, stand on this before it’s too late.

Check out National Affairs: “A National disaster, made for TV” in the Toronto Star, Saturday, March 22, 2008.  P. ID3, written by Linda Diebel.