Forwarded from:

Lawrence A. Parker
Philosopher and Educational Consultant

Subject:  A Billion here and a Billion there.....


The next time you hear a politician use the words "billion" as casually as they do, think about whether you want that politician spending your tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases:

A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.|**

A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate Washington spends it.

**  Editor's clarification: Jesus would have been alive . . . if, in fact, he had lived.