Articles from the Week of November 24, 2023
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This week’s compilation is a little shorter than average because a lot of writers and editors are apparently off for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Interesting Quotes
"No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character."
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
"Where there's hope, there's life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again."
ANNE FRANK
Fascinating Facts
The majority of the world’s oxygen does not come from trees, something we frequently believe. About 80% of the world’s oxygen comes from ocean-growing plankton. There are two main types of plankton, phytoplankton, which are plants, and zooplankton, which are animals. Phytoplankton, like trees, produce oxygen from photosynthesis. Jellyfish are one type of zooplankton. (Source: InterestingFacts.com).
A giant wave of molasses once flooded the streets of Boston.
“On January 15, 1919, more than 2 million gallons of molasses spewed through Boston’s North End in an event known today as the Great Molasses Flood. The incident occurred due to a faulty storage tank managed by United States Industrial Alcohol, a distilling company. The massive storage vat measured 50 feet high with a diameter of 90 feet and was known to rumble and leak from the time it was built in 1915. These issues occurred in part because the walls were only 0.31 to 0.67 inches thick, far too thin to contain the weight of a full tank of molasses.
“On January 12 and 13, 600,000 gallons of molasses were pumped into the tank, filling it to capacity. This, coupled with temperature fluctuations that affected both the molasses and the vat itself, put an added strain on the tank. Two days later, the container burst from the pressure, sending a 40-foot-high wave of molasses gushing through the streets at a speed of up to 35 miles per hour. The destructive force of gooey liquid destroyed buildings and claimed 21 lives, requiring 87,000 worker hours to clean up in the event’s aftermath. For years after, residents claimed the area reeked of molasses on warmer days.”
(Source: HistoryFacts.com)
Reportedly, the busiest day of the year for plumbers is the day after Thanksgiving. (Source: InterestingFacts.com)
Counseling Articles
Who Were the Pilgrims Really?
This is not a counseling article, but I think you will find it worthwhile to take a couple minutes to read what the main purpose of the Pilgrims was, and although they lost half of their population the first year, only the sailors returned to Europe—the rest of them remained with the hope of completing their intended mission and they initiated the first Thanksgiving celebration.
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24 Unchangeable Things to Be Thankful For
With the tumultuous situations the world has been experiencing the last few months, I read this brief article and was reminded of 24 things that have not changed that we as believers can be thankful for. I think if you take a moment to read them you’ll be reminded that the most important things in our lives have not changed.
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A Possible Future Treatment for Those Clients Who Have Long COVID (topic)
A New Long COVID Explanation: Low Serotonin Levels? (actual title)
A study just found that those who have long COVID have lowered serotonin levels throughout their bodies. This raises the question of whether one of the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) might have a beneficial effect. However, the SSRIs were designed to increase the levels of serotonin in the brain. Therefore more research needs to be done to (1) see if the SSRIs will increase serotonin throughout the body and (2) if it does, will it decrease the symptoms of long COVID. If I see evidence that it does, I will include it in this newsletter.
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Long COVID and Mental Illness: New Guidance
A consensus statement from a group that studied the relationship between long COVID and mental illness stated: “Long COVID can exacerbate existing mental health disorders or cause new-onset psychiatric symptoms, but mental illness does not cause long COVID, experts say.” If you have a client with long COVID who is complaining about psychological symptoms you may want to read this entire article from Medscape Psychiatry.
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13 Takeaways from GOP Candidate Forum on Faith, Family
I try to avoid partisan political issues in this mailing but these concise takeaways from the GOP Faith and Forum Friday evening between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will, I believe, encourage you that if any of these three are elected as our next President they will provide many good ideas that are supportive of our Christian faith.
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The Many Surprising Medical Uses of AI 'Companion’ Robots
This is a fascinating article about “companion robots” powered by artificial intelligence. Older people may have spouses or pets who pass away. It’s amazing what these companion robots can do, and even when people realize that they’re only robots they still develop affectionate feelings for them. I think they will definitely continue to be an important part of our future.
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Most Young Adults Who Use E-Cigarettes Have Never Smoked
One of the rationales for e-cigarettes is that they’re healthier than regular cigarettes. This well-done study found that ¾ of the young adults who were smoking e-cigarettes had not smoked regular cigarettes previously. When we can appropriately do so it would be good to encourage young people to avoid starting either habit.
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Creating a Thankful Home
Mark Gregston has some good ideas about how parents can model thankfulness that hopefully will transfer to their children. If you work with adults who are parents this might be a helpful article to share with them.
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Babylon Bee Fun Headlines
Californians Set Up President Xi Dummy So Newsom Will Keep the Cities Clean All the Time
Satan Announces Early Retirement Thanks to TikTok
Osama Bin Laden Given Honorary Posthumous Doctorate from Columbia
Baptist Pastor Gives Disclaimer That Any Lyric About Lifting Up Your Hands Is Strictly a Metaphor
An Open Conversation with Temple Grandin
Temple Grandin has some thoughts about different kinds of intelligence and how that should influence the way we teach. Her typology about the different types of intelligence is different from any that I’ve heard before, but if it’s true, it could have major implications for the best ways to teach and the best way to help people learn. If you haven’t heard her typology before, this is worthwhile reading.
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The Insanity of Denying Free Will
Robert Sapolsky is a neurendocrinologist who has been studying primates and humans for 40 years and now concludes that humans have no free will. He has written a book explaining his belief—Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will. For a summary of his theory and a compilation of some of the writers who have disagreed with this hypothesis see this short article from Breakpoint.
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What the science actually says about weighted blankets
Weighted blanket manufacturers make many claims about the benefits of this product. Many of these claims have yet to have solid evidence demonstrating whether they are true. There is one assertion that does seem to be true: sleeping under weighted blankets does seem to reduce anxiety in those who are struggling with anxiety.
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The Role of Religion in Bipolar Stability
This is a series of comments from people of various faiths (many are Christians) who share how their spirituality has helped them through the ups and downs of bipolar disorder.
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On Faith and Bipolar Recovery
This author takes on the debate between those who argue that one should just use psychiatry to handle their bipolar disorder and those who just want faith to do so and argues for a both/and approach.
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I’ve Been a Prosperity Gospel Parent
If you are working with parents who have been called “helicopter parents” or “lawnmower parents” who believe that the best way to be good parents is remove every obstacle from their children’s lives, this article from Christianity Today may be helpful to you in helping them to see that all children will face obstacles and helping them to learn resilience is a better way to prepare their children for adulthood. This article is particularly good because it is written by a person who once believed that it was best to try to remove all obstacles from a child’s life.
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Brave Mom Makes Incredible Move to Help Her Son
You probably have not heard this before, but apparently “support chickens” may be very helpful and calming to some children and teens with autism. Read article for further details.
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Have a wonderful week or weekend!
Henry Virkler
