Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover

Some people are just doomed to be failures. That's the way some adults look at troubled kids. Maybe you've heard the saying, "A bird with a broken wing will never fly as high." I'm sure that T. J. Ware was made to feel this way almost every day in school.

By high school, T. J. was the most celebrated troublemaker in his town. Teachers literally cringed when they saw his name posted on their classroom lists for the next semester. He wasn't very talkative, didn't answer questions and got into lots of fights. He had flunked almost every class by the time he entered his senior year, yet was being passed on each year to a higher grade level. Teachers didn't want to have him again the following year. T. J. was moving on, but definitely not moving up.

I met T. J. for the first time at a weekend leadership retreat. All the students at school had been invited to sign up for ACE training, a program designed to have students become more involved in their communities. T. J. was one of 405 students who signed up. When I showed up to lead their first retreat, the community leaders gave me this overview of the attending students: "We have a total spectrum represented today, from the student body president to T. J. Ware, the boy with the longest arrest record in the history of town." Somehow, I knew that I wasn't the first to hear about T. J.'s darker side as the first words of introduction.

At the start of the retreat, T. J. was literally standing outside the circle of students, against the back wall, with that "go ahead, impress me" look on his face. He didn't readily join the discussion groups, didn't seem to have much to say. But slowly, the interactive games drew him in. The ice really melted when the groups started building a list of positive and negative things that had occurred at school that year. T. J. had some definite thoughts on those situations. The other students in T. J.'s group welcomed his comments. All of a sudden T. J. felt like a part of the group, and before long he was being treated like a leader. He was saying things that made a lot of sense, and everyone was listening. T. J. was a smart guy, and he had some great ideas.

The next day, T. J. was very active in all the sessions. By the end of the retreat, he had joined the Homeless Project team. He knew something about poverty, hunger and hopelessness. The other students on the team were impressed with his passionate concern and ideas. They elected T. J. co-chairman of the team. The student council president would be taking his instruction from T. J. Ware.

When T. J. showed up at school on Monday morning, he arrived to a firestorm. A group of teachers were protesting to the school principal about his being elected co-chairman. The very first communitywide service project was to be a giant food drive, organized by the Homeless Project team. These teachers couldn't believe that the principal would allow this crucial beginning to a prestigious, three-year action plan to stay in the incapable hands of T. J. Ware.

They reminded the principal, "He has an arrest record as long as your arm. He'll probably steal half the food." Mr. Coggshall reminded them that the purpose of the ACE program was to uncover any positive passion that a student had and reinforce its practice until true change can take place. The teachers left the meeting shaking their heads in disgust, firmly convinced that failure was imminent.

Two weeks later, T. J. and his friends led a group of 70 students in a drive to collect food. They collected a school record: 2,854 cans of food in just two hours. It was enough to fill the empty shelves in two neighborhood centers, and the food took care of needy families in the area for 75 days. The local newspaper covered the event with a full-page article the next day. That newspaper story was posted on the main bulletin board at school, where everyone could see it. T. J.'s picture was up there for doing something great, for leading a record-setting food drive. Every day he was reminded about what he did. He was being acknowledged as leadership material.

T. J. started showing up at school every day and answered questions from teachers for the first time. He led a second project, collecting 300 blankets and 1,000 pairs of shoes for the homeless shelter. The event he started now yields 9,000 cans of food in one day, taking care of 70 percent of the need for food for one year. T. J. reminds us that a bird with a broken wing only needs mending. But once it has healed, it can fly higher than the rest. T. J. got a job. He became productive. He is flying quite nicely these days.

Weight Lose Tips

Need some help with your weight loss? Below are some great weight loss tips to help you that extra bit, these weight loss tips offers pointers for pratical, effective weight loss tactics. Tips include healthy eating advice, support, exercise, preparation of food and much more. Enjoy!

1. To make a delicious low fat mayonnaise simply combine one teaspoon Dijon mustard or one teaspoon satay sauce with low fat yoghurt.

2. Avoid skipping meals. Eating increases your matabolism, thus skipping meals can 'trick' your body into slowing down its metabolism in an attempt to conserve calories during a period it perceives as a situation where limited fuel is available.

3. Stuffing vegetables such as capsicum and zucchini with tasty fillings of mince chicken, meat or tuna are easy to do and very healthy and low fat.

4. Pita bread roll ups or wraps with salad fillings, are great for picnics, school lunches or to take to work.

5. Exerise, exercise, exercise! Exercise increases your metabolism and burning off excess fat. When is the best time to exercise? Our metabolism slows down about 8 hours after we wake up, so 30 minutes of exercise in the evening, before dinner will increase your metabolism for about two to three more hours just when it was starting to slow down. This produces a significant increase in fat burned off, even after the exercise is over.

6. Adding alfalfa or mung beans to your salad brings in extra iron.

7. Good cooking and healthy eating begins with learning about nutrition and how to prepare healthy recipes.

8. Plan the week's family menus in advance and just purchase those ingredients at a once weekly shopping trip.

9. Be positive! The more you feel good about yourself the easier and faster it is to lose weight.

10. Learn how to make over family favourite recipes by cutting out fats, salt and sugar. Substitute non fat yoghurt for cream, stir fry minus oil and use herbs and spices instead of salt for flavour.

11. Please consult your doctor before beginning an exercise or weight loss program.

12. Eat slowly and chew each bite completely to decrease your appetite

13. Eat three small meals and two snacks daily instead of two or three huge meals.

14. It's a myth that you need oil to stir fry! Use chicken stock instead and cut down on hidden fat.

15. There is more fat in a plate of toasted muesli than a plate of bacon and eggs! Purchase non-toasted muesli instead.

16. Avoid removing the skins of fruits and vegetables - most of the nutrients are concentrated just under the skin.

17. Hot water with a squeeze of lemon before breakfast get the metabolism going for the day, helps prevent constipation and is excellent for the skin.

18. The best source of vegetable protein is from soya beans or tofu. All legumes provide some protein, so include lentils, lima beans etc into casseroles and soups.

19. Find a weight loss "buddy," club, or support group. This will help you stay with your weight loss program.

20. Though difficult, try not eating 3 hours or more before bed time.

21. I cut up a whole watermelon and leave it in the fridge to snack on over a few days. it is sweet, juicy, yummy and filling. it really has helped me because when i go to the fridge looking for something when i see the watermelon it stops me having something more calorie laden. having it handy so that it is just as easy to eat as a biscuit or whatever makes the world of difference. eating at night time is my downfall too. i cant just not eat at night so i allow for it in my daily eating. i have those 97%fat free rice crackers and/or fruit or air popped popcorn. for me i just cant not eat at night time. i find i dont sleep very well if i go from dinner time to breakfast without anything. although we do eat dinner very early (around 5.30) because we like to eat with the kids. i think it is best to know your weaknesses and try to work around them. also, i dont think it can be said too many times - drinking water makes all the difference.

22. Make pasta your fast food choice - you can prepare a pasta meal and salad in 10-12 minutes.

23. Chilli helps to speed up metabolism - even the milder varieties.

24. Omelettes can be made just using egg whites! A dramatic reduction in fat.

25. Limit salt in cooking. Other names for salt include baking soda, baking powder, MSG and soya sauce.

26. For low fat gravy, drop ice cubes into the baking tray. Fat will stick to the ice cubes and can then be removed.

27. Chew sugarless gum. It speeds up the digestive system, burning more calories, and sometimes kills a craving.

28. Drinking hot water as appose to cold water can increase the speed of your metabolism and burn more calories.

29. Make casseroles the day before use. Refrigerate and skim fat from the top before re heating.

30. Always eat before you go food shopping and always prepare a shopping list. Only purchase food which relates to your weekly menu plan and don't be tempted to buy goodies.

Mix Weather Facts

Hurricane Emily crossed the island of Bermuda during the early morning. Emily, moving northeast at 45 mph, produced wind gusts to 115 mph at Kindley Field. The thirty-five million dollars damage inflicted by Emily made it the worst hurricane to strike Bermuda since.

Cool Canadian air prevailed across the central and eastern U.S. Toledo OH reported a record low of 27 degrees. Limestone ME received an inch of snow. Warm weather continued in the western U.S. Boise ID reported a record high of 87 degrees.

The western U.S. continued to sizzle. Afternoon highs of 85 degrees at Astoria OR, 101 degrees at Tucson AZ, and 102 degrees at Sacramento CA, equalled October records. It marked the fourth time in the month that Sacramento tied their record for October.

Cold Canadian air invaded the north central U.S. bringing an end to the growing season across those states. Unseasonably warm weather prevailed in the southwestern U.S. Phoenix AZ reported a record high of 105 degrees.

Afternoon highs of 103 degrees at Long Beach CA and 105 degrees at the Los Angeles Civic Center were the hottest since September records were established in 1963. Fierce Santa Ana winds accompanying the extreme heat resulted in destructive fires.

A black frost over most of New England kills unripened corn in the north resulting in a year of famine.

Unseasonably warm weather prevailed across Florida. Afternoon highs of 92 degrees at Apalachicola and 95 degrees at Fort Myers were records for the date.

In the midst of a hot September for Death Valley, California, the afternoon high was 104 degrees for the second of three days, the coolest afternoon highs for the month.

Santa Ana winds brought fires to Los Angeles County, and to points south and east. Half a million acres were consumed by the fires, as were 1000 structures. Twenty firemen were injured.

Unseasonably warm weather continued in the western U.S. In California, afternoon highs of 96 degrees at Redding and Red Bluff were records for the date.

Dense fog contributed to a 118 vehicle accident on I-94, just south of Milwaukee WI. It was the seventh day of an eight day stretch of dense fog. At the time of the accident the visibility was reportedly close to zero.

Floodwaters roared through a migrant labor camp near the town of Picacho AZ flooding fifty cabins and a dozen nearby homes. 250 migrant workers lost their shelters. The month was one of the wettest Octobers in Arizona weather history.

Seattle WA received four inches of rain in 24 hours, a record for the city.

Excessive flooding was reported along the Mississippi River and all over the Midwest, from Ohio to the Milk River in Montana. In some places it was the worst flooding of record.

A big early season lake effect snowburst on the lee shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario produced 47 inches at Governeur NY and 48 inches just south of Buffalo

Amazing Tornado Facts.

Hurricane Beulah moved into South Texas, and torrential rains from the hurricane turned the rich agricultural areas of South Texas into a large lake. Beulah also spawned a record 115 tornadoes.

A tornado traveled 275 miles across Lake Ontario, New York and Lake Champlain.

One South Dakota tornado was observed hovering in a field for 45 minutes.

In 1967, Hurricane Beulah unleased 115 tornadoes over Texas.

The tornado is the most violent of all earth's storms.

The average lifespan of a tornado is less than 15 minutes.

Hurricane Hilda struck Louisiana spawning many tornadoes, and claimed twenty-two lives.

The first killer tornado of record in October in Connecticut destroyed sixteen vintage aircraft at the Bradley Air Museum in Windsor Locks. The tornado damaged more than one hundred homes causing 200 million dollars damage. Three persons were killed, and 500 others were injured.

Three tornadoes spawned by the remnants of Hurricane Gracie killed 12 persons at Ivy VA.

A tornado 440 yards in width traveled twenty miles from near Hollow OK to western Cherokee County KS. Although a strong tornado, it was very slow moving, and gave a tremendous warning roar, and as a result no one was killed.

A heavy chicken house, sixteen by sixteen feet in area, was picked up by a tornado and wedged between two trees. The hens were found the next day sitting on their eggs in the chicken house, with no windows broken, as though nothing had happened.

An outbreak of tornadoes from Oklahoma to Indiana caused 81 deaths and 25 million dollars damage. A tornado (possibly two tornadoes) cut an eight-mile long path across Saint Louis MO, to Granite City IL, killing 79 persons. The damage path at times was a mile and a quarter in width..

Amazing Snow and Ice Facts..

The largest piece of ice to fall to earth was an ice block 6 meters (20 ft) across that fell in Scotland on 13 August 1849.

The largest hailstone recorded fell on 14 April 1986 in Bangladesh weighing 1kg (2.25lbs). The hailstorm reportedly killed 92 people.

The largest snowflakes in the world fell across Fort Keogh in Montana (USA) on 28 January 1887.

Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the only permanent snowcap within sight of the equator.

Permanent snow and ice cover about 12% (21 million square km's) of the Earth's land surface. 80% of the world's fresh water is locked up as ice or snow.

A single snowstorm can drop 40 million tons of snow, carrying the energy equivalent to 120 atom bombs.

There is NOT a law of nature that prohibits 2 snowflakes from being identical.

Denver CO received 9.6 inches of snow. October of that year proved to be the coldest and snowiest of record for Denver, with a total snowfall for the month of 31.2 inches.

Light snow falls in Canberra during most years, but it rarely accumulates to more than a few centimeters.

In Australia, snowfalls are common above 1,500m in the Alps during the winter, but there are no permanent snowfields anywhere on the continent.

Denver CO was buried under 21.3 inches of snow, 19.4 inches of which fell in 24 hours. The heavy wet snow snapped trees and wires causing seven million dollars damage.

Parts of Michigan and Wisconsin experienced their first freeze of the autumn. Snow and sleet were reported in the Sheffield and Sutton areas of northeastern Vermont at midday.

The most snow produced in a single snowstorm is 4.8 meters (15.75ft) at Mt Shasta Ski Bowl, California (USA) between 13 and 19 February 1959....!