Here's a guide for how to be a gifted kid

Being a young gifted student in today's world is different in many ways from 20-plus years ago when THE GIFTED KIDS' SURVIVAL GUIDE: FOR AGES 10 & UNDER (http://www.freespirit.com/catalog/item_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=194) was first published. Programs to support gifted students are more established, more comprehensive, and more accepted in many schools. The super-smart founders of companies like Microsoft, Google, and The Geek Squad have helped make it cool to be smart. And recent survey results show that fewer elementary-age gifted kids report being teased than in years prior.

While being GT (gifted and talented) may be easier in some respects now than in the past, that doesn't mean gifted children have it easy. That's why Judy Galbraith, M.A., first wrote and has now fully updated THE GIFTED KIDS' SURVIVAL GUIDE: FOR AGES 10 & UNDER (Revised & Updated 3rd Edition, $12.99, Free Spirit Publishing (http://www.freespirit.com)).

"Where do you turn when no one knows the answers to your most secret and baffling questions about being gifted? The Gifted Kids' Survival Guide: For Ages 10 & Under by Judy Galbraith has the answers in words that make sense."--Barbara Clark, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, California State University, Los Angeles, and author of Growing Up Gifted

The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) estimates there are approximately 3 million gifted kids in kindergarten through twelfth grade in the United States. What does gifted or high potential mean to them? Do they have questions about giftedness? What kinds of problems do they have with friends and family? Do they have the opportunity to work ahead in school? Galbraith recently surveyed 1,000 GT kids to find out the answers to these and other questions, and put her findings into her new book. Here's what a few of these boys and girls had to say about what being gifted means:

"Being able to see things in a way others can't."--Lexi, age 9

"People expect more of me."--Duncan, age 9

"It means I never stop asking questions."--Devorah, age 9

"It means not just knowing the answer, but thinking about why it's that way."

--Max, age 10

"It is my hope that THE GIFTED KIDS' SURVIVAL GUIDE will help kids make sense of some of

the puzzling, amazing, and stressful challenges they face as a GT," says Galbraith. "When they know more about who they are, which includes their giftedness, they feel better about themselves and report more confidence."

THE GIFTED KIDS' SURVIVAL GUIDE covers the social and emotional challenges GT kids face and offers solid advice, encouragement, suggestions for self-directed learning opportunities, quotes from gifted kids, and self-advocacy techniques to try both at home and at school. For example, sections include:

5 Things GTs Need to Succeed

8 Great Gripes of GT Kids

8 Big Benefits of Being GT

8 Ways to Make Regular School More Cool

Whiz Quiz: Are You a Perfectionist?

With THE GIFTED KIDS' SURVIVAL GUIDE, Galbraith has provided a much needed, up-to-date resource for children, parents, teachers, and other advocates for gifted kids everywhere.

This practical guide offers young gifted children the support and encouragement they're looking for.

Ethics Important During Tough Times Says Dalai Lama

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama spoke at Albany's Palace Theatre yesterday of the need to foster ethics and embrace basic human values, especially during these times of economic and socio-political turmoil. About 2,600 people heard his public talk titled ''Compassionate Ethics in Difficult Times.''

The event, sponsored by the World Ethical Foundations Consortium (WEFC), was His Holiness' first visit to the state capital of New York.

Legs folded in an oversized chair at center stage, His Holiness (http://www.worldethicalfoundations.org) spoke with a comfortable candor, often pausing to laugh and look into the audience. He talked passionately about the importance of ethics in today's world, highlighting it as the missing ingredient in politics, business and religion.

"We need some lessons of moral ethics," he said.

During a news conference preceding the public talk, His Holiness advised that people should be self-reflective and focus on their internal well-being. Instead of placing value on material possessions, people should strive for happy families and compassionate communities.

"We should pay more attention to inner value. Money alone is not sufficient," he said.

At the beginning of the public speech, His Holiness presented his hosts and local leaders with white silk scarves called "kataks," which according to Tibetan culture symbolize purity. Bishop Howard Hubbard of the Albany Diocese, Albany Mayor Gerald Jennings and WEFC cofounders Sara and Clare Bronfman all were presented scarves and remained seated with him on the stage during his speech. At the end of his talk, he addressed several questions submitted earlier by audience members.

When asked why he decided to come to Albany, His Holiness said he met with representatives from WEFC and determined their genuine focus was to promote ethics and it was his moral responsibility, given his commitment to promoting basic human values and secular ethics, to support others doing the same. The afternoon's events were concluded by His Holiness showing his support for Keith Raniere, conceptual founder of WEFC, by calling him on stage and placing a katak around his neck.

About 200 people watched a simulcast of the talk at The Egg at Empire State Plaza in Albany.

His Holiness' visit to Albany was his last stop on a U.S. tour, which also included events in Boston and New York City.

Grossed-Out Divorce Lawyer Vomits Onto Judge

At first we thought this news item might be one of those stories that supermarket tabloids such as the National Enquirer sometimes fabricate and publish alongside sensational articles about space aliens, Bigfoot and Elvis sightings. But then we did a bit of digging and we found out more than we wanted to know. It seems there is a website that has pictures on it that are so gross, they truly are enough to make a lawyer barf in court.

Here is the story as we first read it...

Grossed-Out Divorce Lawyer Vomits Onto Judge

FRESNO, CA - A family courtroom erupted into tumult when a lawyer lost not only his case but also his lunch upon an astonished judge, who hastily dismissed the proceedings. Attorney Richard Wysnewski, 52, was arguing over a custody settlement with Judge Sandra S. Ogilvy when he suddenly became violently ill and spewed the contents of his stomach all over the face and chest of the presiding justice. Mr. Wysnewski was seen to receive a message on his mobile phone immediately prior to the incident. It is believed he viewed an online greeting card image so disgusting that he was unable to control the regurgitation reflex.

And now, as the late Paul Harvey used to say, here is the rest of the story...

We have learned that the lawyer in question was sent an insulting electronic greeting card that he received on his Blackberry, and the poor schmuck was dumb enough to view it in court. The card came from a site called Secret Revenge Cards at http://www.secretrevengecards.com and we warn you not to go there unless you have a very strong stomach.

Not only do they run a service where people can send electronic insult cards -- they call them "e-sults" -- but they do it all anonymously. You can send a card to somebody you want to take revenge on and the recipient never knows the identity of the sender.

As if this wasn't bad enough, the pictures available on the cards are repulsive, depraved, disgusting, sickening and shameful. Do these people have no decency or morality? The popular term "Not Safe For Work" or NSFW is only putting it mildly!

To be fair, the website does state that they are opposed to bullying, hate mongering or racism, but we predict there could be disaster if school children start tormenting one another with these cruel communications.

The internet has been described as being as wide open as the old West. Maybe it's time more regulation was written to control such filth as Secret Revenge Cards.