I recently watched this particularly touching and painful film, and I feel I must recommend it to everyone (not children, though). Turtles Can Fly is a Kurdish film by director/writer Bahman Ghobadi, and is proof that some of the best movies are not made by Hollywood. The modern world is so concerned about the "horrible crimes" like name-calling and "relational aggression" that our children have to endure. Watch this film and you will see the true meaning of resilience. Most of the actors in this film are children, some of them severely handicapped.

I had a strong religious upbringing. My parents sent me to yeshiva (Orthodox Jewish school) from first grade through high school. Had you asked me at the age of 9 what I want to be when I grow up, I would have answered, "a rabbi."

My "Turning Bullies into Buddies" seminar draws more criticism than my "Anger Control Seminar," though the contents and philosophy are very similar. This is probably because I make it clear in the "bullies" seminar that I believe the very idea of a campaign against "bullies" is misguided and unethical. Understandably, some participants take this as a rejection of what they do as professionals. However, the criticism - and often condemnation - I receive is strongest when I present in cities that have major universities.

Most of us believe we have fundamental rights to happiness, respect, fairness, and protection from misery. These beliefs are psychological traps. "Rights" are a legal concept created by Civilization; rights do not exist in Nature.

Why shouldn't we punish kids when they say mean things to each other?

Unbreakable, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, has recently become available in video. It is a masterpiece. If you haven't seen it yet, rent it. If you have, see it again. After you read this review, you'll understand the ending this time around.

This great movie was a flop with the reviewers. Why? Because they couldn't understand the ending. Even the reviewers who liked the movie were baffled by the ending.

I've often said that comedians are the best psychologists. Comedians (and I include comedy writers in this category) know real human nature. They show us what we are like without the disguises. Because it shows us for the shnooks we really are, comedy is so much fun.

In my September newsletter, I complained about being considered sexist by some of my seminar participants because of my use of the traditional "he" or "him" to refer to persons of unspecified gender. I wrote that I felt it was an excess of the feminist movement to have made it unacceptable to use the masculine pronoun in this way, resulting in greater difficulty to write smoothly.