This month’s feature articles:

Regular monthly features:

What does a family do when a gifted child, who was brilliant in secondary school, loses motivation and drive in university?

Independent studies and project-oriented work in elementary and secondary schools do not necessarily mean students become independent and motivated learners. The studies may be fun, stimulating, entertaining and filled with lots of new knowledge but they do not always empower students to become self-motivated producers of new learning. The teacher controlled – to a large extent - what students did. It is difficult for some students who suddenly are on their own for the first time. When the structure and control are no longer there in the much freer universities, it is sometimes easy to lose direction and motivation.

Suggestions:

Nobody enjoys watching anyone underachieve, lose hope and/or direction in life. University is very late for this kind of problem to happen with gifted children but there are approaches and potential solutions.

1. Focused Questions – what am I really trying to do?; what am I assuming?; what should I be doing differently?
2. Question Your Answers – should I take a different approach?; is this in my best interests?
3. Consider Resistance – when others are against you, learn from their opinions; identify what prevents you getting your goal.
4. Analyze Resistance – be totally honest and ask difficult and painful questions of yourself and resistance to find out what is holding you back.
5. Look at the Rest of the World – is someone else accomplishing the same goal? If so, the resistance you experience is in you. "What inside me is holding me back?"
6. Identify Your Primary Internal Resistance – it is easier to change yourself than others. Focus on changing that.
7. Get Serious/Ruthless – focus and attack your primary internal resistance. Demand answers of yourself as to why you are not succeeding.
8. Turn on the Lights – spot internal resistance before it takes hold.
9. Re-examine Your Goals – define them clearly, be excited and enthusiastic, ask intense questions of yourself.
10. Be a Professional Problem-Solver – unachieved goals are unsolved problems.

July 1-9 – National Fishing Week

First Sat – International Day of Cooperatives

July 11 – Full Moon tonight

July7 11 World Population Day

July 18 – World Youth Day

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• The Caribana Festival in Toronto, Canada is the largest Caribbean festival in North America. It is held from mid July to the end of the month. It attracts more than a million participants each year.
• In total, there are approximately 756,000 coke items sold every minute around the world.
• Brazil has the world’s highest death toll from guns. About 36,000 people were killed by guns in 2005.
• Telephone text messaging is very popular in China. They sent about 217.7 billion messages in 2004.
• In "neuromarketing" studies by Harvard scientists in the 1990’s, it was found that consumers can be "dramatically influenced" by advertising to drink Pepsi or Coca-Cola.
• Leni Riefenstahl, a German female filmmaker of "Olympia"-the 1936 Olympic games, created the torch run.
• In 1964, Japanese sushi was first introduced to the rest of the world.

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(from an article by Ellen Roseman, Toronto Star)

There are people who live under lucky stars and end up winning big, BIG, BIGGG money! Anywhere from $500,000 to millions of dollars that are inherited, paid out in severance packages, won in lawsuits, or through sale of shares can change your life positively and negatively.

Positives

What will I do with all that money? - able to quit job, go on luxury trips, buy a new home, own a fancy car, kids can go to private schools, renovate, freedom to do anything you want, no more financial worries, fulfill almost any wish, help others, relax and enjoy leisure time

I don’t know how to handle extremely large sums of money! - have to learn to spend it slowly or it will be gone quickly, most people don’t know in what to invest such a large sum, finding the right financial advisor who will have YOUR best interests in mind can be difficult, what family members to support with a monetary gift, large donations to charities require tax credits strategies, many instantly wealthy people feel embarrassed and in a shock "fog", have to handle feelings of being disconnected from the every-day world you were used to

Within the next two decades there will be about $1 trillion dollars in assets handed down by baby boomers. Their parents lived through the depression and wars and learned to be frugal within a simple life of no debt. The "boomers" lived far better and have amassed valuable property and savings to be transferred to their children and grandchildren.

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Don’t laugh. There are some people that make this almost a career. Some people enter contests almost professionally so why not this?

With the dozens of game shows on TV, there is a steady need for good, knowledgeable, friendly, communicative people to be contestants. There are many life skills that are needed so not everybody will be suited to this "job". Have fun.

Underwater and Marine Archaeology

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(based on an article by Peter Krivel, Toronto Star)

Walking along in many major cities will never be the same again. All it takes is an ipod and some downloaded podcasts.

There are many websites that will allow free downloading of guidebooks to cities. There is a running commentary offered about battles, famous sites, information about song lyrics in specialized museums, etc.

Travel has been more affected by technology than any other industry. Find out about resorts, take a virtual tour, take a guided walking tour of London, Glasgow, Paris and Prague. All are available now at the push of a button.

If you are planning to go anywhere, here are the sites to visit to download tour information:

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The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. Coming to terms with the sudden death of her husband while tending a severely ill daughter. (U.S. National Book award for non-fiction)

Europe Central by William. T. Vollmann. Story about totalitarian ugliness in Germany and Soviet Union during WW II. (Fiction winner in the above awards)

Finalists for the Trillium Award for Literature:

Always Someone to Kill the Doves by F.T. Flahiff

Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb

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When on the internet, sometimes a site may ask you to make it your homepage. In some cases, you have no choice but to click "Yes." It just won’t let you say "No". If you want to get out of it, just press and hold "Ctrl" + "Alt" + "Del" and that particular running page only should shut down.

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(from an article by Caspar Milville, New Humanist)

What if you believed that there was a major catastrophe about to happen? What if you actually had captured a person you believed is directly involved in its happening? You don’t know what the catastrophe will be. Do you torture the person to get information? Should the rulebooks be tossed out in these situations?

This is a scenario called the "ticking bomb." Interrogators would have to have perfect certainty of the following conditions in order to advocate the torture of a captured person for answers:

1. The bomb actually exists. (even though it has not been seen)
2. The bomb will explode (even if the terrorists are incompetent)
3. It’s the kind of bomb that can be neutralized if found (even if it may explode on contact)
4. The person detained knows where the bomb is. (his friends haven’t moved it after he/she got caught)
5. The person detained will tell where the bomb is if tortured (and not keep silent, die or give false information)
6. The detainee will give up the information on time, before the bomb explodes.
7. There is no way to find the bomb.

Non-existent "ticking bombs" used as a scare tactic often provide an easy rationale for torture or demonizing targeted societies or select people(s). It can lead to forfeiture and/or the repealing of citizens’ basic human rights under the pretense of providing greater national security and/or enhancing public safety.

(Ticking Bombs: Weapons of mass destruction? Plots against governments and citizens? Danger of attacks inside a country? Drug wars? The wealthy are trying to destroy the middle class? Communist threats to democracy? Arming of other nations? Cartoons depicting Muhammed? Environmental Degradation?)

Normality is an ideal fiction. It doesn't exist. It is something we seek after all our lives. - Sigmund Freud

Normality is characterized by strength of character, the capacity to deal with conflicting emotions, the ability to experience pleasure without conflict and the ability to love. - Melanie Klein

"Normal" is a setting on a clothes washer. - Anonymous

Girl: When we get married, I want to share all your worries, troubles and lighten your burden.
Boy: It's very kind of you, darling, but I don't have any worries or troubles.
Girl: Well, that's because we aren't married yet!
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Father to son after exam: "Let me see your report card."
Son: "My friend just borrowed it. He wants to scare his parents."
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"How was your blind date?" a college student asked her roommate.
"Terrible! "the roommate answered." He showed up in his 1932 Rolls Royce."
" Wow! That's a very expensive car. What's so bad about that?"
"He was the original owner!

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