The company of peers.

Last week, I chanced upon a scene that had, about it, a quiet contentment.

I had gone to collect my son, Ainan, from HELP University College. I was running early and had a few minutes to wait before his class was to end. Curious, I peeked in to the classroom, partly to make sure I was waiting in the right place. The scene that I witnessed was one to bring comfort to any father, who had taken the particular path in raising his son that I had.

Ainan sat at a table, in this Physics class, with three other students. He was talking, naturally, to them, and they were listening. What struck me about it was how comfortable he seemed, in that situation: a boy of 11, conversing with young adult students, in a Physics class. It was not his comfort alone that was evident: it was the attitude of the other students – they fully accepted him, as a fellow student, on equal footing.

I saw, then, how right I had been to make this opportunity for him. He seemed so at home, in that class, with young adult students. He had found his place. It seems to me, looking back, that he is more at home, at HELP University College, than he was in primary school. In the latter situation, he always seemed to be holding his true essence in reserve, unable to share it with his fellow school kids, because they simply wouldn’t have understood. Now, however, I think he is able to speak more fully of his thoughts, for understanding is more readily achieved. In other words, he is freer now, than he was before, at least in the intellectual dimension. His playful side is expressed at home, with his siblings, and when he has the chance to mix with kids his own age. So, now, I rather think he has achieved a more complete life: one that allows him to express himself intellectually, one that affords him peers who can understand him – as well as the other aspects of childhood, which are still available to him.

I shall hold that memory of him, speaking in a very relaxed way, with his fellow students. It is an image of contentment that, at one time, I did worry we would never find for him.

All this does make me reflect on all the naysayers against educational acceleration. So many ill-informed educators feel that gifted children should never be accelerated. If only they knew how content Ainan was, with his University, compared to his primary school, they would realize how wrong they are. All they would have to do to realize this, is to peek through that window, and see what I saw, that day.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html
and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks. You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

The death of an enemy.

Syahidah was in a thoughtful mood yesterday. She remarked, early in the evening: "Don't celebrate the death of an enemy - only celebrate the death of oppression."

Her thought is one worth considering.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks. You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Osama bin Laden and the price of over confidence.

Osama bin Laden was not killed by the Americans, he was killed by his own over confidence. Why, I wonder, was such a wanted man living in an affluent suburb of Islamabad? Not only that but he was living in a very obvious house: one with walls up to 18 feet tall, with barbed wire on top and only one entrance through double security gates. I understand, furthermore, that his property was eight times the size of typical ones nearby. Not only that, but most curiously, for such an evidently wealthy resident, no phone lines or internet connection entered the property. It seems to me that his elaborate defences did not protect him but, in fact, singled him out.

The legend of Osama bin Laden had long held that he lived in the mountains on the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, in some unknown cave. Were this, in fact, true, it is very likely that the Americans would never have found him and never have managed to kill him. Though I cannot know Osama bin Laden’s thinking on this, it does appear that a liking for a more comfortable life than the one of legend, led him to become a rather obvious figure to the watchful Americans. Had he truly been the ascetic that parts of his legend suggested, tonight President Obama and America would not be celebrating this victory.

I must say that I am surprised by the death of Osama bin Laden – not surprised at the death itself, for everyone knew that the Americans were seeking him out – no, I am just surprised that anyone who had done what Osama had reputedly done, would lead such a conspicuous life, on the outskirts of a major city. Perhaps the long years, since 9/11, in which the Americans had singularly failed to find him, had led him to believe that they never would – and so he chose to live in a manner which would, ultimately, draw attention to himself.

America might be celebrating today, but I can’t help but feel that this “victory” will only lead to more sorrow. The death of a man of such importance among his colleagues in cause, can only lead to a concerted effort at reprisal. I have read reports that, years ago, Al Qaeda threatened Europe with a nuclear attack, should Osama bin Laden ever be killed. Apparently, they were claiming to have hidden a nuclear bomb somewhere in Europe, for just such a day. Whether this is a bluff or not, we may soon know.

So, a more reflective response than celebration, to this development, does seem to be appropriate. A wiser response would be to step up preparedness for a reprisal – and, in particular, to ascertain whether there really is a nuclear weapon in Europe, hidden somewhere, awaiting a signal from Al Qaeda.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks. You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)