The Celtic and the English civilization.

Recent events in the UK, have given me pause to reflect on one very obvious issue. Almost every media organ referred to the riots as “UK riots”...yet, it is most clear when one looks at the list of locations of the riots – which were many, incidentally – that this was NOT a British problem – but an English one. An unavoidable conclusion comes to me: English civilization has declined in relation to Celtic civilization and now, at this time, the Celts (that is the Irish, the Scots and the Welsh) are most definitely more civilized than the English. The further question that this prompts me to ask is: was this always so?

The Irish, as an example of the Celts, are noted for their friendliness and ease of conversation. The English are traditionally noted for aloofness, to a degree and reluctance to engage with strangers (at least, a certain class of Englishmen). Could it be that the disengaged English are not working together to create an inclusive civilization, whereas the friendly Irish etc are being more inclusive and more, thereby, civilizing?

It is funny, in a way – darkly funny – for you see the English, that is a certain class of English, have long looked down on the Irish – they think of themselves as “superior” to the Irish. This is, of course, an English delusion since the Irish are among the most creative and intelligent people I know (that is I can produce specific examples of creativity and intelligence from among the Irish population). On the other hand, England has spent the last few generations breeding a new class of people, for whom “intelligence” is an unspellable word (yes, my computer suspects that to be a neologism, but never mind). This new class of Englishman is, perhaps, more violent, more resentful, more ungrateful, more parasitic and more criminal than any other similar group in any country I care to think of. They are the New Englishman. Now, it seems to me, that if England does not confront the implications of the existence of this large group of largely unemployable individuals, that England faces ruin in the long term: these people have the power to bring down that once great nation. You see, one big problem is that this group appears quite fertile: they are having lots of kids. There are many accounts of great fecundity among them. Yet, what kind of children are they having? Generally speaking, they are in the mould of their parents: low IQ, unskilled, uneducated, and, it seems, quite often, violent. Does England really want to be over-run by hordes of low IQ youngsters, who think that burglary is a respectable profession and mugging is an enjoyable hobby?

The problem the English now face, is made particularly difficult by the nature of the English State. There are particular obvious solutions to this problem which would be politically impossible. For instance, any significant reduction in benefits for this “underclass” would result in said underclass, numbering in the millions, voting out the existing government and replacing it with any party who promised to reinstate their benefits. Yet, it cannot be doubted that the benefit system, as is, has paid for the creation of this underclass. Unless difficult decisions are made and implemented and unless the various parties can agree, together, to maintain these changes, this underclass will only grow and grow until it becomes a dominant force in England. At that time, England, as we think we know it, would be at an end. The nation that would be in its place, would be a very ugly one indeed. The recent riots would be as nothing compared to the chronic condition of such a nation.

I hope that England’s present leaders, find the strength to face up to this problem and address it intelligently, even if their approach causes short term pain, as long as it ameliorates the situation, in the long term. Until then, however, it seems safe to say that Celtic civilization is more civilized than the English have now become.

Disclosure: I am Irish – but that doesn’t change the validity of what I have observed.

Posted by Valentine Cawley.

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Pregnant white women and the muggers of Malaysia.

I have observed that pregnant white women are much in demand among the muggers of Malaysia. We don't know that many people, really, but two of our friends, who happen to be pregnant white women, have been mugged in Malaysia. Interestingly, I can't recall any of our non pregnant, or non white women, in our acquaintance, being mugged.

The first incident happened some months ago, when a pregnant Irish woman, was walking down a street in Kuala Lumpur with her handbag slung over her shoulder. Suddenly, she was thrown to the ground, when a passing motorcyclist grabbed her bag and dragged her along the ground. She held onto it, bravely, but was dragged quite a few metres, before her attacker gave up. She was quite a few months pregnant at the time and was left with scraped flesh all down one side of her body.

The second incident happened in the Gardens shopping centre - a very chic shopping mall - in Kuala Lumpur. This was not a violent incident, indeed, the victim, a Russian white woman, did not even know it had happened until later. Basically, someone pick pocketed all the cash from her bag. She is heavily and obviously pregnant - late stages.

To my mind, these incidents show an incredible degree of callousness. The women concerned are both pregnant and visibly so. One was targeted in a manner which has been known to kill victims (they are dragged to their deaths). The other was robbed of all her money. What on Earth could lead their attackers to think that this was a reasonable thing to do? Where has their humanity gone?

The question here, is: are Malaysia's muggers specifically singling out pregnant women as victims because they are likely to be less mobile and less able to fight back? Or are they targetting white women because they believe them to be rich (not always true)? If the former, then I can only say this: much more needs to be done to stamp out these vile criminals. I feel that too little is being done to control them.

Why is this type of crime so common in Malaysia? Aren't the criminals very easy to identify? (They tend to ride motorbikes...so why not just stop ALL young men on motorbikes and investigate them for signs of criminality.)

When a pregnant woman, traditionally regarded as worthy of much heightened care and attention by societies all around the world, becomes victim to snatch thieves, who endanger her life and the life of her unborn, then assuredly, that is the mark of a society perilously close to barbarism.

I do not know what the punishment for snatch thieves is, in Malaysia - but whatever it is, it needs to be harshened, considerably. Also, there should be random checks of all young men who ride motorbikes. Should there be any signs that they are engaged in criminal activities, they should receive long, mandatory jail sentences, without delay.

It is at times like this that the merits of Syariah law seem to have some appeal. It is very difficult, after all, to pursue a career as a snatch thief, if you have no hands. Also riding a motorbike is a little tricky, too. Whatever one might think of ancient Islamic law, I feel it would have done a better job, with the muggers of Malaysia, than modern law enforcement is doing, presently. The response of the police is simply not effective.

I recall one case, here, in Malaysia, in which a crowd who saw a snatch thief at work, caught up with him - and beat him to death. I don't believe that anyone was charged. However, the case does show the degree of public anger towards snatch thieves who have, quite frequently, killed or maimed their victims. The authorities in Malaysia should listen to that public anger and crack down on these obscene young men, who think that a pregnant white woman is a reasonable choice of victim. How horrible.

Consider this, too: many a woman has lost a child, through miscarriage, owing to a sudden shock. Thus, in snatching a pregnant woman's bag, they put the life of the child at risk, even if the woman comes to no harm (unlikely as our friend could attest).

In short, the attackers of our pregnant friend, should be charged not with theft, or attempted theft - but with attempted murder, on two counts - for their actions imperil the lives of those they attack. If the standard charge for snatch theft was raised to attempted murder, to reflect the risks to their victims, perhaps this crime would abate.

My advice to any pregnant woman on the streets of Malaysia is not to carry a bag at all. Then you won't be a victim. This seems to be a sad necessity given the proportion of our friends who have been mugged in this fashion.

Be safe, everyone.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.htmlI 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.

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.

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Electricians in Singapore: beware.

A few days ago, we had an experience that calls into question the idea that Singapore is a "squeaky clean" state. We called "Mr. Tay", an electrician. It seemed an innocent enough thing to do...but it was the beginning of nightmare.

We agreed a price with Mr. Tay to have his workers grout a bath and get a couple of lighting fixtures to work (which didn't work even with new bulbs in them). After much negotiation, a price was agreed.

The worker came very late, at 10.30 pm that night. He was a scrawny, mentally very slow, almost dead looking man. Clearly, he was being overworked by his employer. He did the grouting (not well), then said that he would be back the following day to complete the electrics. He asked for payment in cash, for the full amount. He wouldn't give a receipt but said that his boss would issue one. After some hesitation, we paid him, largely because he seemed too stupid to be a trickster.

The following day, three men including the one we had already met, turned up. They "worked"
for an hour on the wiring, ostensibly checking it for problems. They then demanded almost twice the fee already paid, in cash, in addition to the money already paid, before they would continue the work. Now, my wife was alone with them, for I was working. A great argument ensued, with my wife telling them, time and time again, that the full fee had already been paid. She even spoke to Mr. Tay...but he spent all his time lying down the phone, saying that the agreed fee of the day before had only been for the grouting. He wouldn't budge from his demands. When it became clear that my wife was not about to pay them an additional sum of twice the agreed fee of the day before, all three "electricians" left the house. The trouble was that they had left wiring exposed everywhere, in a real mess.

When I came home I argued with Mr. Tay for some half an hour, on the phone. This was no fun, since he spent most of the time shouting. His cries were of: "Your money so big, huh?" on the fact that we had already paid enough. "I have to pay for petrol and my men." and the real classic:"Be a gentleman". I thought this was hilarious since he was the one trying to extort extra money from us, beyond that which had been agreed.

The wiring was in a terrible mess, so we got another electrician down to look at it. He observed the wiring carefully and was clearly very puzzled. He said: "It looks like someone has deliberately messed up the wiring...it will take some time to work out what they have done."

So, during their hour of studying our wiring, what they had actually been doing, was messing it up, so that they could create problems which they then would offer to solve for a large fee. To my mind, that makes Mr. Tay and crowd, criminals.

The new electrician spent a couple of hours fixing it all - and, you know what, after all the trouble we had been through, he didn't even want to be paid. He was doing it out of kindness. We did, however, give him something...though much less than the extortionate fee demanded by Mr. Tay's crooks.

The experience was a real lesson for us. Singapore is not a haven from criminality. Criminals can easily be found in the classified section of newspapers (where we found Mr. Tay). Our conclusion is that one should only engage people, of any kind, in Singapore, by RECOMMENDATION ONLY.

There needs to be more regulation and certification of electricians, plumbers and the like, in Singapore. There needs to be a body that guarantees the skills, quality and integrity of these people. Until then, do this: NEVER book an electrician, a plumber or anyone similar, via an ad in a newspaper or anywhere else. ONLY go by recommendation. That is the only safeguard there is, right now.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Career ambition of a young man.

The young, today, have strange career ambitions, in some cases. A significant proportion of youngsters in the UK, for instance, believe that they will be pop stars. So significant is the proportion that believes this that, if it came true, there would be little audience to listen to their works: too many would be producing works, not enough would be of a mind to buy.

A few days ago, I asked a group of young Chinese mainlanders, living in Singapore, whether they would ever consider being a criminal. Of the seven of them, six said they would not consider it. The seventh, however, said: "Yes. I would like to be a criminal."

That gave me a pause. "What kind of criminal would you like to be?"

"All kinds."

"Why would you like to be a criminal?"

"Because I would like to try all jobs."

My silence urged him on.

"...and I think girls like a bad man. I want to be a bad man."

Ah...just so he could get the girls.

"Would you consider being a farmer, then?", I asked him.

"No."

So much for "trying all jobs."!

"Why not?"

"It is too boring."

I left the matter at that. Incidentally, most of the others who would not consider being a criminal, would consider being a farmer. One might conclude that criminal farmers would be in short supply in China!

What I found interesting about this young man's views on career choices, was that he revealed no contemplation of moral or legal matters. He was only concerned whether his "image" would be attractive to girls, or not. Perhaps he had been influenced by Hollywood and the Chinese equivalent (or Hong Kong equivalent) into believing that criminals were somehow alluring to women.

I rather hope that he doesn't act on his fantasy career choice, particularly given that he would like to try "all" types of crime. (I did note, however, that one girl said regarding his criminal career choice: "He is one." - and many of the others could be heard murmuring words to the effect that it was an appropriate choice, for him.)

There is another consideration. This is a small sample - just seven Chinese mainlanders...but I can't help but wonder whether, in importing so many of them, as Singapore is, that they might not be importing many people who are less law abiding than the very carefully controlled and groomed Singaporeans they are used to here. Of course, the young man's attitudes might be a rarity, but if not, Singapore might be in for a few surprises with its immigration policies favouring Chinese mainlanders over every other race and nation on Earth.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

The amazing disappearing ERP cards

Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) cards have magical properties. They can vanish on their own, into thin air. To prove the point, all you have to do is leave one in public view, with an open window, or in any other way accessible, turn your back, count to a hundred, and look back again. It will have vanished.

Now, the relevant Ministry was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press, but they have been coy about just how they managed to instil their apparently ordinary pieces of inexpensively made - but dear to buy - plastic, with such magical abilities. I was unable to get an answer from them as to when they managed to do such magical research, or how much government money was required to imbue such simple looking plastic with such special abilities.

In the absence of government insight on the issue I consulted the SEER of the household of the Cawleys (my wife). She pointed to the evident fact that ERP was EXPENSIVE - and that this might have imbued the plastic cards with the magical ability to disappear of their own accord.

Now, my post may have become in whimsy, but there is a seriousness to it. A friend of ours is a Harley-Davidson riding lady, who has repeatedly experienced the magical properties of her ERP cards. Every single time that she has forgotten to take her ERP card from its holder on her motorbike, someone else has kindly remembered and taken it instead.

Now, you might wonder in what downtrodden areas she has been parking her bike, so that it is stolen from, every time she forgets to take her card with her. Well, such downtrodden areas as City Hall and Plaza Singapura, for instance. She only forgets to take her card with her occasionally but she has become very disturbed to note that EVERY SINGLE TIME it has been STOLEN.

This should give us all pause. A bike is not a very big thing. An ERP card is an even smaller thing. Yet, every time she has parked her bike, in an "upper class" area, as it is usually parked, and forgotten to take her ERP card from its holder, it has been stolen before she gets back to her bike. That could only occur if a sub-group of people were specifically checking other peoples' vehicles for means of access to their ERP cards. A casual passerby of a parked bike, would not notice if an ERP card was present or not. Only someone looking for them would do so. The same goes for any car with an open window. Only someone looking for cards to steal would notice.

Yet, it has happened to her every time she has parked her bike and failed to keep her card with her. That should prompt us to re-evaluate the idea that Singapore is a "low crime" country. Perhaps some categories of crime are quite high - such as theft. Our family, for instance, has been stolen from three times in the past few years. The police did nothing - but that is another story. Our friend did not report the thefts to the police. She thought, probably, it would not do any good to do so. How many other people, in Singapore, are victims of theft, but never report it? It could be quite a few if our friend's experience is typical.

Think about this, too. The most likely thief of an ERP card, is someone else with a vehicle, for then they could make direct use of it. Yet, that means they have enough money to buy a vehicle in the first place - which, in a Singaporean high vehicle tax environment means they have a fair amount of money. Yet, these people are still motivated enough to steal ERP cards from other vehicle owners. (This presupposes that there is no black market in stolen ERP cards going on).

Our friend's experience shows that thieves are sufficiently common that one is certain to pass a parked vehicle in a few hours away from it - and that anything that can be stolen from it, will.

I am left to wonder what is the true crime situation in Singapore. What percentage of thefts and other "minor" crimes are going unreported? For that matter, what percentage of more serious crimes are going unreported?

One learns, after a while, that a lot in Singapore is about image. Singapore has the image of virtual crimelessness...but anyone who has been here long enough can only doubt that. Our friend would be the first to laugh at the suggestion that criminals are a rarity in Singapore (unless, of course, it is the same thief stalking her about Singapore!).

Perhaps it would do everyone well to be aware of this.

Don't forget your ERP cards.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.)

Does Singapore value copyright?

Intellectual property and its particular example, copyright, have made news recently, in Singapore. At stake, is the whole idea of ownership of a created work - and the rewards that go with having created it.

As you may know, copyright sometimes gets a rough time, in parts of Asia. China is famous for its businessmen who ignore copyright and intellectual property laws and just copy, or take, intellectual property without authorization or payment. Yet, there is another kind of copyright violation that its perpetrators may not even consider to be in the same arena: the illegal internet download.

Downloading material off the internet is so prevalent and so common the world over, that most young people give it no thought at all: indeed, the typical youngster seems to think it is their right to download whatever they please, whenever they please. This attitude, however, either ignores the notion of intellectual property and copyright - or is founded on an unawareness of it.

Recently, an anime (Japanese cartoon) distributor in Singapore, called Odex, has decided to stand up for its intellectual property rights and sue violators. In the past two years, they have suffered from a decline in sales of 60 to 70 %. They attribute this to a simultaneous rise in illegal downloads of their anime films, off the internet. Quite simply, they contend, young people are no longer buying their cartoons - they are stealing them off the internet. This is destroying their business model. Odex distribute such popular Japanese anime cartoons as Gundam Seed and Inuyasha, usually via VCD/DVD in retail outlets.

To be able to sue the illegal downloaders, Odex first had to find out who they were. To do this, they took the local internet service providers Singtel (government telco), Starhub and Pacific Net, to court. The first two judgements came in against the ISPs, forcing them to reveal the names of about a 1,000 downloaders each: Singtel has done so, Starhub is still mulling over an appeal. The interesting one is Pacific Net - or PacNet. The judge in that case - who was different from the other two - came down in Pacific Net's favour citing the importance of internet privacy, and blocking Odex's petition to secure the names of 1,000 illegal internet anime downloaders.

The fact that a Singapore court came down against the intellectual property owner, in a copyright violation case, is itself very interesting (and more of that later) - but what really intrigues and appals me, in equal measures is the reaction to Odex's case, in the online forums, in word of mouth - and in other forms of feedback to Odex, itself. There has been outrage all over the internet, that Odex would actually seek to protect its copyright - violators and sympathizers have been pouring vitriol against Odex in forum, after forum. There have even, reports in the Straits Times state, been DEATH THREATS against Odex.

Just reflect on that for a moment. The general feeling among young internet downloaders is that Odex, which owns the sole rights to distribute these Japanese anime cartoons in this part of the world, should not be allowed to protect its intellectual property. Indeed, the mass of internet users are angry that Odex should be doing so - to the point of issuing death threats against them. I find that really, really disturbing - and you should, too.

What exactly is Odex protecting? The right for the creator of a work to be compensated when someone else enjoys the use of it. I don't think that should be a controversial issue. If there were no rewards for creating works, in any media, exactly how many such works would be available for public distribution? Almost none at all. Without a fair financial return on the time, money and effort put into creating an artistic or other work (and all three facets are involved in most creations), then there would be no significant creative activity that wasn't entirely private. There would be no worldwide market for films, books, music, art, and the like. The entertainment world, as we know it, just would not exist. Is that a better world than the one we have? Few would think so - yet that is the world the outraged internet voices are arguing for. They are crying out for a world in which creators, producers and owners of creative works are NOT rewarded for doing so. In such a world, there would be no Japanese anime cartoons to be bought in the shops or even downloaded for "free" on the internet - for no-one would spend millions of dollars making them, when they could never recoup the money invested. The protesters against Odex are baying for a world without art, a world without culture, a world of utter boredom.

No. People should not be demanding a relaxation of copyright laws. People should not be demanding that the internet should be a free for all. People should, instead be demanding a strengthening of copyright laws. People should be demanding huge penalties for all who breach them. Why do I say this? Well, in a world in which copyright is strong and well-protected, creators feel secure in releasing their works to the public. They are rewarded well for it - and more works will follow. A world of strong copyright protection is a world with a burgeoning, vital culture - to the benefit of all, except the freeloaders who would wish to steal a work, rather than pay a reasonable sum for it.

Odex is seeking $5,000 Singapore dollars from each and every illegal downloader. They are not seeking a penalty for each individual copyright violation, as I understand it (though, really, they should). That is about $3,285 US dollars a head.

As a writer, myself, and as someone who understands the work that every creative work embodies (sometimes a lifetime's work in a single opus), I really hope Odex wins all its cases against illegal downloaders. Any case against copyright theft can only serve to strengthen copyright and protect the rights of all who create, in any way, and in any medium, anywhere.

What really worries me about this case, though, is that the Singaporean judge in the Pacific Net case did not understand this. Either he did not understand this - or did not care about it. He placed "internet privacy" above "copyright protection". That is equivalent, in the physical world, to putting the rights of shoplifters not to be identified (so that, hey, they can shoplift again, anonymously, no shop knowing who they are), above the rights of shopowners not to be stolen from. It doesn't make sense. Privacy is an important issue - but you cannot and should not use a right to privacy to hide a criminal, of any breed. A thief is a thief, whether they steal a car or a film - it is still theft. A court has no place coming down on the side of the thief, against the owner of the property that was stolen. That really doesn't make any sense.

Generally speaking, lawyers don't create anything. Therefore, perhaps, this particular lawyer does not understand the issues around creating a work - and being compensated for the use of that creative work. It is not an issue that he would feel strongly about because it is not an issue ever likely to concern him. Well, it should. The whole of human society is built on the works of intellectual property holders - be it copyrights or patents. We all, together, have a collective responsibility to ensure that intellectual property is protected and its owners properly compensated. If we do not do this, there won't be any intellectual property to protect - and then we will all suffer. In a sense, therefore, those who steal intellectual property, strike against us all - for they are striking against those on whom all the richness of society is built. We shouldn't stand for it. But first we must understand the issue. Once we understand that issue - and I hope to have done something to help, there - there should be no excuse for not protecting intellectual property with the same vigour that we protect physical property. If this issue doesn't mean much to you, put the words "my house" or "my car" in the place of Japanese anime cartoons - and see just how happy you feel about someone stealing it.

(If you would like to read about Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and one month, or Tiarnan, eighteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, genetics, left-handedness, College, University, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)