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The following are some ways that a gifted child can be involved in a search for a career:

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Do we or don’t we have serious health problems? We seem to be mostly healthy and energetic? We have lots of food, don’t we? We have a variety of fruits and vegetables, don’t we? So what is the problem?

There is a problem that most people don’t know anything about. Lack of minerals in our diet.

Ever wonder how the massive dinosaurs could get so big? Imagine many of these plant-eating animals, many with mouths slightly larger than those of horses, getting so big. Why? Because they ate food that was extremely healthy and rich in nutrients! It was not just quantity but also quality of the food that kept them alive and growing to their enormous sizes.

There are up to 77 colloidal minerals that should be coming from the plants we eat. We are not getting many of them any more!

Nothing in a living system works without minerals as a major part of the function or as catalytic co-factors. Without minerals, vitamins are not absorbed properly by the body. Trace minerals, major minerals and rare earths found in clays, salts, animal tissue and bones, and meat are essential to good health. They are called plant derived colloidal liquid minerals and are 98% absorbable.

Unless these nutrients are delivered regularly and in sufficient quantity, maintenance, repair and replacement of body cells are compromised. Each nutrient is dependent on others to work properly. Each affects enzymes, co-enzymes and other chemicals and systems throughout the body. Minerals and trace minerals affect every function.

Our food supplies are tainted and seriously lacking in the mineral nutrients we need. Many commercially bottled vitamins and minerals - that we are increasingly forced to take as supplements - are metallic minerals made from ground up rocks or come from deposits in sea beds and are minimally absorbed by our bodies. Some become toxic because they are not the right kind required by the body and build up in the system.

There is a growing health crisis that is killing us. Our health and life span have been greatly affected by many negative changes in our food supply:

• big-business farming methods have depleted minerals in growing soils for the last six decades
• commercial fertilizers often contain only 3 essential minerals which means plants look and taste ok but are nutritionally deficient
• plants make some vitamins but they can’t make minerals so what we eat is often less than adequate for our daily physical needs
• pesticides, herbicides, growth sprays affect plant chemistry and eventually our health
• genetic engineering will affect our food and our health in ways we can’t even imagine yet

What to do?

• buy organic, natural vitamin and mineral supplements
• buy organic food which is higher in essential nutrients
• grow some of your own food if possible but learn how to prepare the soil properly so plants are nutritious
• soak fruits and vegetables in a water and vinegar mixture to remove toxic oils and sprays from the surface. A quick rinse removes very little.

416 Graffiti Expo (best graffiti artists in Toronto put on a show)

Advanced Placement (university credits while in high school. Start now)

Arts Week (book fairs, arts, festivals, tours, more)

Avenue Road Arts School (time to apply)

Cabbagetown Festival

Co-op Education (check in your school)

CLEWS (Community Leadership Workshops)

Debating – Ontario Student Debating Union (time to join)

Destination Imagination (start a project now)

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (apply now)

Eden Mills Writers Festival

Encounters with Canada (1 week in Ottawa. Great courses. Sign up early.)

International Festival of Authors (famous writers meet at Harbourfront)

International Kite Festival (kiters from all over the world gather)

National Bridal Show

Ontario Universities Fair

Royal Canadian Institute Lectures (Free. Contact them for schedule)

Toronto Cricket Festival (world class cricket competition)

Toronto Star Investment Challenge (competing teams "buy/sell" stocks)

Word on the Street (annual literary extravaganza, writers, publishers, etc.)

University of Toronto Mentorship Program (apply as soon as possible)

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September 10 – Full moon

September 19 – International Day of Peace

September 23 – First day of Fall Autumnal Equinox

September 27 – Jewish Rosh Hashanah begins

This is also Big Brothers Month and Arthritis Month

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(from an email by a reader, Ruth G.)

This month and next month, Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August, Mars will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. But, by the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

Share this! No one alive today will ever see this again.
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Who Moved My Soap? The CEO’s Guide to Surviving in Prison by Andy Borowitz. Funny book on white-collar criminals in jail. It includes a guide to dining in prison, glossary of prison slang and how to avoid getting stabbed in the back.

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Our society is in danger of losing contact with important things in life. We live in sterile, concrete worlds away from nature. Many people have lost touch with who they are and how their lives are relevant in the world. Education seems to set up young people to be consumers and workers. Our lives seem to be lived with expediency, business and money as the main objectives.

The architect, Christopher Alexander, has a very different and mind-expanding view of how to build homes and communities. In effect, he is a spiritual architect.

Building a Home: People should be able to buy a property and then decide how their home should feel, look and how it should be placed on the land.

Old historical homes were built with people in mind. They have character and an appeal to the eye and the soul. There is a richness and quality that speaks out to people who pass by. Modern mass-produced homes have very little character. They lack personality and say little to the occupants.

Here is how one might consider building a home. Walk around the property and find several spots where it feels good to be standing there. Locate the one or two spots where you feel moved in spirit and very comfortable spiritually. Now decide where to build the home so that these spots are honored, cherished, respected and maintained. This open space that moves you becomes a cherished entity, not a leftover after construction and will be a positive place for the inhabitants on the property. It will begin to become meaningful in many ways with regard to planting and placing things around the yard. It will in return cherish your feelings too. Imagine if everybody could be in their own space like this.

Rebuilding a Community: Rather than thinking only of how much money can be earned in the cheapest structures on the least amount of land, let’s start putting people first. In rebuilding a community, first find out what the most important existing meeting places are: favourite restaurants, hobby shops, parks, stores, etc. Once located, build arterial sidewalks and walkways to inter-connect them. Have roadways built away from these "people gathering" spots but close enough for accessibility. Encourage the building of support businesses and enterprises that embellish and make the existing gathering spots more beautiful, spiritually appealing and more desirable. Everybody benefits. Big box stores and huge parking lots are not people friendly; they are business friendly and impersonal. With creativity, we can be spiritually uplifted and feel more a part of our immediate world.

Building a New Town/City: Locate all the open spaces first and then the secondary important meeting places i.e. parks, squares, fields, etc. Link them with sidewalks, trails, paths. Locate important gathering shops and stores. Surround them with support businesses and others that make the whole area appealing to people. Build homes and other support buildings around these in the land that is left over. Integrate homes into the area as well so that shops have customers that can get to them easily and are more willing to walk rather than drive.

Read His Book: The Nature of Order by Christopher Alexander.

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There are thousands of garbage dumps around the world. Once they are full, many people forget about them. Not this person.

A Garbage Archaeologist is usually hired to monitor the state of the dump over many years. The job usually starts with a bucket auger digging down to the bottom of the dump in several locations. By searching through what is brought up, many things can be learned about the site. The dates of old newspapers will tell the person the age of the dump. The temperature will determine the rate of decomposition. The contents of the drilling will help to identify whether the garbage was from industrial, business or home sources. Evaluating the dump for methane levels will aid in preventing explosions.

A good background in archaeology, chemistry of decomposition, history, and a good eye for details and deducting skills are most valuable in this little understood yet important job.

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Everybody needs to get away from the rat race once in a while. Should you decide to withdraw for a day or longer, a retreat facilitator can guide you to relocate and nurture your inner peace, balance and harmony in your life. If you enjoy a combination of spirituality and creativity used to find them, you might choose to become a retreat facilitator. It helps to have a religious background but it is not mandatory. A good grounding in the spiritual aspects of living is a good place to start. As well, it is good to know about life from a holistic point of view with emphasis on nurturing the mind, body and spirit. The study of human nature and being is never ending.

There are many kinds of retreats that can be offered to groups in the community: Religious-Confirmation, various student groups, adults, senior citizens, graduation groups, corporate group day of reflection, or private individual retreats.

Facilitating retreats is usually during school months for students but many days during the rest of the year can be busy with the other groups mentioned.

The rewards are many. Taking a break from our hectic lifestyle can help people reconnect with themselves, get needed relief from mental anguish and disconnectedness. A retreat sometimes gives people an opportunity to learn new skills to keep themselves balanced in life and to refocus on the most relevant and important things in life. It can become a rewarding inward journey when guided by a fellow traveller of the universe who has taken the time to learn how to do that.

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-the Canadian government in Ottawa is expected to collect about $185 billion in taxes in 2003-04. There are more than 453,000 civil servants employed in Canada. There are about 70 departments and agencies and about 40 Crown corporations.

-presently the world’s oldest man, at 125 years, based on accurate evidence, according to Guinness World Records, is Habib Miyan who lives in Jaipur, India. He claims to be 132 but does not have a birth certificate to authenticate it. This beats Jeanne Louise Calment who lived to be 122 when she died in 1977.

-each May, Memphis, Tennessee holds 3 days of piggy festivities during which people get whole-hog involved. The World Championship Barbeque Cooking Contest is held. The whole city goes hog wild as judges taste sauced pig hams, shoulders, loin and tenderloin cooked to perfection. Winners get to bring home the bacon.

-the Canadian Charter of Rights does not consider ownership of property to be a right. This clause was intentionally left out so that governments at any level may expropriate or confiscate property at any time from citizens.

-about 5% of the population is allergic to the glue in bandages.

-a cat has about 95% chance of surviving a drop from a 10-storey building. A human has about a 10% chance of surviving.

-there is a city called Rome on every continent.

-Dennis Huron of Port Perry, ON Canada owns a 1903 Ford Model A that is the oldest family-owned Ford in the world.

-the world’s first successful tongue transplant was carried out in Vienna, Austria in July of this year. The 42-year-old man had a tongue tumour so large that he could not open his mouth or swallow. He is likely to lose his sense of taste.

-beach volleyball is the most popular sport in nudist camps.

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(an article in the London Mail-England)

Thrill seekers around the world are eagerly anticipating the first flights to the edge of outer space. Customers will be placed in 12-seat capsules strapped to the bottom of Russian MiG-31s jet fighters and travel at 1,860 mph.

If you want to invest in the trips, scheduled to start in 3-4 years, contact the European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Company. Cost of the trips is expected to be in the $15,000 Cdn range.

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(based on an article in Eye Magazine)

People love to gamble. You might be one of them. The tough part is knowing whether you are having fun or whether you are indulging in self-destructive behaviour in what is obviously and blatantly a losing game.

If you are buying lottery tickets or gambling to improve your financial situation, you might be in trouble. To imagine that you can win big without hard work is addictive - why work when you can get things the "easy" way? If you expect gambling to gain you money to pay rent or debts or to change your lifestyle, you may also be in trouble.

Heavy gambling leads to a psychological state of fascination and many closely related negatives. People enjoy wondering what will happen next and often continue gambling when they should stop. A loss often leads to a desire to maintain self-esteem and to show that one is not a loser – place another bet and another because my luck will change. A win can bring a state of euphoria that traps people into anticipating the next big win – place another bet because luck is on my side today.

Heavy gambling often leads to alcohol or drug abuse, extra stress, ulcers, colitis, high blood pressure. Gambling can also lead to crime to cover losses or maintain the habit. There is also a heavy risk of suicide. Some gamblers have lost everything they owned in order to get the next big win.

If you watch gamblers of any age, there are certain identifiable patterns.

• Those who bet big money are considered big shots. A gambler readily feels

the pressure to be one or to show others that they can be one.

• Some people think they can beat those stupid machines and will talk to them or perform mystical rituals around their use.
• If the prize gets bigger, more people will be buying lottery tickets, no matter the odds – very strange logic.
• There are people who get very angry and upset and insist on showing the powers of nature that they can win and will win if they keep placing bets.
• Low-income people tend to gamble more because they see themselves in hopeless situations and gambling is a possible way out. Lotteries love to sell hope and dreams to them.
• Almost all gamblers think they are going to win. The reality is that ALL casinos are set up so that most customers lose, otherwise they wouldn’t be in business.

In reality, most gambling is a form of voluntary taxation with poor people paying much of it. Gambling problems affects about 2% of the population, up from 1% before casinos.

Best advice?

• Be a spectator and be fascinated by all the intricacies of gambling done by other people. It is really fun to watch people as they gamble.
• Working hard, instead of wishing for an easy way to the top, will be more satisfying in the long run.
• Invest your money in a business, antiques, or special bank accounts where you have more control and greater satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.

Here is a clear, understandable view of the odds in a lottery. For example, if odds are 1 in 13 million of winning a jackpot. It takes about 11.5 days to count to a million. It would take about 6 months to count to 13 million at an average rate of one number per second. That means you will win the jackpot if you choose the right month, right day, right hour, right minute and lastly and most importantly the right second. If you don’t get the exact second, you lose all. Good luck!!

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Shacking up is a commitment to self, not the other person.

Don’t point to society to excuse your personal weakness; look at society as something you help to create.

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.

- Kahlil Gibran

Don’t squeeze someone else’s neck over something you can’t swallow.

Yes, you have to sacrifice what you want for what you care for.

The number one communication problem is not listening to understand.

Work harder on being lovable than being loved.

Morals and values remind you about useless and dangerous detours that threaten your life’s journey toward meaningfulness.

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The cop got out of his car and the kid, that was stopped for speeding,
rolled down his window. "I've been waiting for you all day," the cop said.
The kid replied, "yeah, well I got here as fast as I could". When the cop
finally stopped laughing, he sent the kid on his way without a ticket.

A truck driver was driving along on the freeway. A sign comes up that reads
"low bridge ahead". Before he knows it, the bridge is right ahead of him and
he gets stuck under the bridge. Cars are backed up for miles. Finally, a
police car comes up. The cop gets out of his car and walks around to the
truck driver, puts his hands on his hips and says, "got stuck huh?" The
truck driver says, "no I was delivering this bridge and ran out of gas."

Speed your way back to the newsletter next month. Bye.

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