Month: November 2019

 

I still have my library card from my most recent stopping grounds: Philadelphia in the eastern United States.  It was also my hometown.  Other people in Pennsylvania (the state where Philadelphia is located) can obtain one with an ID or Driver’s License.

But the real aim of this article is not to advertise use of the library, but demonstrate a high-tech library service.  With your computer, you can search through databases, which provide remote access to a computer system, so you can supplement traditional print material with a high-tech edge.  And if you like a hard copy, print it!  LOL

Better yet, most (if not all) content be can be accessed at home through your library card by entering the data, namely, your library account number and the PIN.  Different jurisdictional levels, whether states, counties, and municipalities within may have different access protocols, but count your blessings in terms of what you can research and not what you can’t.  (Phil 4:11-13 ESV)

One of my favorites is the Gale Group’s ebooks, a company that covers many topics. Science, history, art, politics, religion, you name it.  Even fake news.  LOL

There are many other resources you can delve into.  So, what if you like physical books though?  No worries, your library will always be there for you, and if you need information that may be tricky to learn, the librarian is right to the rescue!

Whether you prefer physical books (which are still around, mind you) or electronic sources, the library is always on your side.

Ready to explore?

The medical profession, a very noble one indeed, still has its substantial limitations.  While I am not a doctor myself (so don’t take this too seriously), I can mention how doctors often fail.

1. They know more about your body than actually knowing your body.
   Whatever symptoms you give them, they can only diagnose, treat (and sometimes, cure) a given ailment, as well as give advice, based on what they know.  While empathy is a great quality for a doctor to hold, what makes a doctor what s/he is includes his education and  training in a given specialty through many grueling schooling and training years (4 years of college, containing a pre-medical sequence, another 4 of medical school, a year of internship, and a residency based on his/her specialty).  No wonder physician assistants and nurse practitioners are doing more and more activity formerly reserved
2. Doctors, especially surgeons, must strongly keep in mind the Hippocratic oath, which binds doctors to “do no harm.”  This means, they must know what they are doing, because if they do not perform the right moves, they may cause injury, or even death.  While some surgeries are becoming much and much easier (e.g., eye surgeries), others, like heart transplants, are no joke.  While all surgeries are intended to help the patient, they sometimes often turn adverse.  And like a typical illness or injury, a surgery, despite being a treatment, must be recovered from.  So your original issue, surgically addressed, is now a matter of surgical recovery, not the original condition.  And surgeries, inevitably, are treated by one’s body, the same as an actual injury (after all, both lead to scars).  In a nutshell, surgery can be viewed as a cousin of a true injury, but with a positive intent.
3. The medical and legal professions meet on a horrendous frequency, i.e., when one is injured or dies from medical malpractice.  In fact, some doctors are lawyers as well!   And this is where things get really ugly.  (Insurance often ties in, by the way.)
4. Gone are the days of the low-key, innocent prescription choices by doctors.  Nowadays, it’s flamboyantly spread throughout TV commercials and magazines.  After all, isn’t a prescription, let alone a combination of such, a doctor’s decision?  Now consumers are equally privy to medications that a doctor could prescribe.  Even worse, “families” of drugs are noticeable, some of which have gone over-the-counter, others protected from such.  For example, for acid reflex, there’s Prilosec, Zantac, Prevacid, etc.  Diabetics have many options for their treatment, especially insulin.  A medication family called statins are intended to treat high cholesterol; among such drugs are Zocor, Lipitor, Crestor, etc.  And men (especially over, say, 40) have the wish of a better sex life with Viagra (over 2 decades old now!), Levitra, and Cialis.

Alas, doctors are here to stay, whether you like it or not.  And God made certain minds that study different things.  Medicine is only one of them.  And when a person needs a doctor or hospital stay, pray for them!  After all, Luke, the writer of his gospel and Acts, was one.

Whereas Christian music focuses on praise to God for salvation through Jesus, some secular songs have a message that can be admirable to Christians.   Let’s explore!

1. Crying in the Chapel (Elvis Presley, 1960/1965)

Originally recorded in 1960 (with existing coverage by previous singers), it didn’t achieve hit status until 1965.

Without further ado, the narrator at some chapel reported his tears were tears of joy. He then recommended whatever the issue, just head to the chapel and everything will be fine. I wonder what chapels allowed that. LOL

2.  Love Train (O’Jays, 1973)

Here, the vocalist, uses a train as a metaphor for constantly gathering people all around the world.  Countries or regions included were England, Russia, China, Africa, Egypt, Africa and Israel.  The point here is a platonic peace or ceasefire, not a romantic connection.

3.  For the Love of Money (O’ Jays, 1974)

This song really has a negative ring to it.  It profiles the ills of money, not its benefits.  Yet a positive message comes out it, in its inferred admonition to be careful of money.

4.  YMCA (The Village People, 1978)

The vocalist here recommends a young guy to check out the YMCA.  (Young Men’s Christian Association)

5.  In the Navy (The Village People, 1979)

While the narrator says the Navy is fun, but right after he really doesn’t want to enlist (for seasickness and overall fear of water as soon as he embarks on his voyage.)  Therefore, it helps the kids decide if they should join the Navy.

(They want you…)

There’s probably more there to this, but that’s what I remember for now.  Happy listening.

 

 

A textbook is not merely a book with lots of facts.  Textbooks are teaching tools to guide a course.  For a given course, the instructor will choose a text, and thus require them for their class.  Typically, once the course is over, students either keep them (e.g., for reference) or sell them.  They are not usually read merely “for fun,” for they are not “light reading” and they are indeed designed to be read in order according to the professor’s sequence of topics (which seldom, if ever, covers the entire text.)

Until recently, I have (usually) had the quirky “pleasure” of reading them, but without an instructor.  I could typically understand them as written, but for anyone to get the full meaning of the text, you’ll need a professor.  Typically they are sold or discarded after finishing a course.  And even if you buy a used textbook recently, you’ll likely get the same buyer’s remorse I have gotten.  On Amazon, both students and non-students have made both positive and negative confessions about textbooks, but the students have the advantage of the instruction.  To be modest, I usually keep silent on Amazon reviews nowadays.

According to a recently discarded textbook on Animal Physiology, it was stated that if information is all around is, why is the text and course needed?  The direct answer is organization, in order to make sense of the information of a given course that also contains relevant bridges to other fields (e.g., physics and chemistry principles in a biological text).

So, what must the instructor do?   S/he will further explain the content in the text (since, again, the text alone may be tough and tedious), focuses on the most relevant topics, and guides you through the course.  You will learn much more efficiently with a professor than without.  And prerequisites, when applicable, form a foundation for other courses after then.

So no matter how tough you try to read them, textbooks aren’t novels and shouldn’t be treated as such!