I agree. I encounter a lot of shortening, but not compression. There's a lot to be said for the Very Short Introduction series. I'm currently reading one on Carl Gustav Jung and have found it helpful. But it's simply not true to say that such books did not exist until recently.
I've never watched it, but I skimmed the first novel in library school. It was required reading for a children's lit class. Not bad, but it never grabbed me. To be fair, though, I never really gave the series a chance.
Yes, usefulness is the greatest concern of engines on Sodor. That's why I don't allow my kids to watch Thomas & Friends. The engines have a servile, rather than transactional relationship with Sir Topham Hatt. They are unsuitable role models for free men and women.
Way back when, I unloaded trucks and drove a forklift for three years. Let me tell you: sitting down is awesome.
Winston Churchill was once asked for the secret to his success. He said, "Conversation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down. Never sit down when you can lie down." He lived to the age of ninety, but that was probably caused more by the whiskey and cigars.
If an 11-year old can't come up with a single penny of income during the course of a year, then he didn't even try.
Winston Churchill was once asked for the secret to his success. He said, "Conversation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down. Never sit down when you can lie down." He lived to the age of ninety, but that was probably caused more by the whiskey and cigars.