Articles from the Week of June 16, 2023
Interesting Quotes
"One of the greatest discoveries a person makes is to find they can do what they were afraid they couldn't do.”
HENRY FORD
The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
Dolly Parton
“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
"It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends."
J. K. ROWLING
Marry the one who understands that you and Jesus come as a package deal.
From Ginny Sale’s Facebook page
"I hope that simple love and truth will be strong in the end. I hope that real love and truth are stronger in the end than any evil or misfortune in the world.”
CHARLES DICKENS
“Life's most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
"As far as the majesty of worship, I'm an Episcopalian; as far as a belief in the sovereignty of God, I'm Presbyterian; in terms of holiness, I'm a Methodist … in terms of the priesthood of believers and baptism, I'm a Baptist; in terms of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I'm a Pentecostal."
Pat Robertson
“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed."
Napoleon Hill
Fascinating Facts (Source: InterestingFacts.com unless otherwise noted)
“Dolphins sleep with one eye open. Metallica lyrics notwithstanding, most humans would find it impossible to sleep with one eye open. Dolphins, on the other hand, can’t sleep any other way. That’s because, unlike us, they don’t breathe automatically and have to remain conscious in order to do so actively. The solution to this predicament is called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, in which one half of the brain rests while the other remains awake. When the right half of a dolphin’s brain is sleeping, its left eye is closed, and vice versa; they periodically alternate which side of the brain is asleep in order to rest fully while retaining consciousness. While sleeping, dolphins may rest motionless or swim slowly and steadily near the water’s surface.”
When the Celsius scale was first introduced in 1741 the scale was the opposite of what we know today: 0 was the boiling point of water and 100 was the temperature at which water froze.
Before erasers, people used bread to rub out pencil marks. There was about 170 years between the time pencils were created and erasers were developed. During that period it was discovered that bread could be used as an eraser.
Albert Einstein didn’t begin speaking until he was 2, and even then he often whispered words before speaking them aloud. He was thought to have an intellectual disability, so much so that the family maid called him the “dopey one.”
Reportedly he did poorly in school, even though he eventually became one of the world’s most famous and brilliant scientists.
In his adulthood he developed quite an irreverent personality, and his famous “tongue photo” was taken when he was 72. He was eventually offered the opportunity to become President of Israel but declined the offer.
The British royal family isn’t allowed to play Monopoly: Although there is no law forbidding this, it is believed to be too vicious and too competitive for the royals to play (Source: Need to Know Facts).
Counseling Articles
FBI Warns of Sextortion Scams Using ‘Deepfakes‘
Although the credibility of the FBI has suffered recently because of what appears to be selective investigations and prosecutions, here is a warning that we probably all should be aware of—the use of AI and other editing techniques to create videos that depict sexual activities of individuals that they never participated in. I mentioned this issue a few weeks ago, but it bears repeating. Those who are on dating sites should probably use one of the tools mentioned in the article to see whether there are any “deepfake” videos of themselves on the Internet, and parents may wish to do the same regarding their children. The fact that a deepfake video was made and circulated of an alleged speech by Putin (that never occurred) reminds us that it can happen to anyone.
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A Dad’s Role in Modeling Social Skills
The importance of this article can be illustrated by quoting the first few sentences: “Research shows that social skills groups don’t help boys with ADHD improve their friendships, but good male role models do. Fathers can teach their sons how to communicate and cultivate friendships in important ways. Here’s how to get started:”
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How My Daughter Found Drive in the Checkout Line
Another helpful article about a family who found that having their 15-year-old daughter, who has ADHD, have a part-time job, made a wonderful and positive difference in their daughter’s life.
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California Bill Would Charge Any Parent Who Doesn’t Affirm Transgenderism With ‘Child Abuse’
Although this bill has not been voted on by the full legislature and has not been signed by the governor yet, it is being considered. And there are rumors that the California governor is being considered to run for U.S. president should President Biden decide not to seek a second term.
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Washington state is even further along in this process. They have already passed a bill (SB5599) and it was signed into law by the governor who invites children who believe they have gender dysphoria who live in other states to run away from home, come to Washington state where they will receive the care they are seeking.
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A lullaby really can work magic. Science tells us why and how
If you counsel with young mothers, or are a mother yourself, you might be interested in this article. It recounts some research done in New Zealand. When lullabies were sung to infants and young children they fell asleep faster, even if the lullabies were in a language other than their own. And when the lullabies were sung by their caregiver the children fell asleep even faster and several other measures of relaxation were also significantly lowered. And when babies in a NICU were sung to by their caregiver they matured faster and were transferred out of the NICU sooner. So encourage mothers to sing to their children as they put them to sleep.
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What is Agnosia? Understanding the Causes and Symptoms
The “Brain and Life” magazine (a neurology magazine written for laypersons) had an article that you might find interesting. When we sense things, we don’t immediately know what we are sensing, but the brain goes through a process of helping us recognize what it is. When something blocks that process it is called agnosia. It can be caused by one of several things, most commonly a stroke or a traumatic brain injury. There are several types of agnosia. Visual agnosia occurs when our eyes are working fine, but our brain doesn’t process what we are seeing. Auditory agnosia is when we can hear noises, but we don’t know what they mean. Tactile agnosia is when we can’t identify what we are touching. Prosopagnosia is when we can’t recognize faces of people we should know. And there are several other types of agnosia. In case you’re interested in learning more about the various types of agnosia, you can find the article here.
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How Our Mental Health Crisis Could Lead to a Spiritual Awakening
Psychologist and author Lisa Miller says that, based on 20 years of research, when children have a strong spiritual development they are about 40% less likely to develop substance dependence and abuse, 60% less likely to develop major depression, 80% less likely to have dangerous or unprotected sex, and
have significantly more positive markers for thriving including an increased sense of meaning and purpose, and high levels of academic success.
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Concomitant Med Use May Explain Poor Antidepressant Response
There are many possible reasons why some depressed people don’t respond to antidepressant medication. Since depression may be caused by many different things, the specific medication a doctor is prescribing may not address that particular cause. This article brings up another possible reason: people taking antidepressants are frequently taking two or three other medications, and some of those medications may be producing depression as a side effect.
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Marriage Recovery: Husbands Helping Wives Heal From Betrayal
When marital trust has been broken, either through an affair or by pornography, this article has a good insight and suggestion about something a husband can do to help his wife heal. Your first reaction, if you read this article, might be that the method sounds dangerous, but it probably is worthwhile considering.
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How US billing rules make detransitioning a Hotel California nightmare
Although there are multiple codes that physicians can use if a person is attempting to change genders, there are no codes for them to use if a person is attempting to detransition. Hopefully as the number of persons deciding to detransition increases, one or more codes can be created.
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And to end the news from this week, three rather humorous articles:
Dylan Mulvaney Now Blackmailing Corporations By Threatening To Endorse Their Products
In case you needed a little humor to brighten your day, this article from the Babylon Bee might provide it.
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Sad: Invitations To Unabomber’s Funeral Mailed Out, But No One Wants To Open Them
Another fun article from the Babylon Bee. I won’t include the hypertext link, since I think the humor was in the headline itself.
11 Funny Quotes About Parenting
If you’ve ever been a parent, or been close friends with a parent, you will probably enjoy these.
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Have a wonderful week or weekend!
Henry Virkler