My letter-to-the-editor: Dr. Joseph Lister, our ‘savior’ in medicine

I had another letter-to-the-editor (“Giving Lister his due”) published at Observer-Reporter today (April 7). I commented on Bruce Kauffmann’s commentary last Sunday, “The medical community’s Rodney Dangerfield” (recall we often heard “I don’t get no respect” in his comic monologues) lamenting Lister didn’t get due respect from American doctors.

If the greatness in medicine is measured by the number of lives saved, then Lister is easily one of the greatest.  When Lister received a standing ovation in the Sixth International Medical Congress in Amsterdam in 1879, the President, Professor Donder, “took him by the hand, obtaining a moment’s silence, said, ‘Professor Lister, it is not only admiration that we offer you, it is our gratitude that of the nations to which we belong.’”

Dr. Joseph Lister

Unfortunately American medical community was slow to accept and adopt his antisepsis concept and technique, costing the lives of many, including President James Garfield, who died of overwhelmed sepsis and multiple abscesses (confirmed at autopsy) 80 days after being struck by an assassin’s bullet in 1881.

I don’t intend to bother you with the story of Dr. Lister, but it will be worth your while to know that the Listers spent three months of their honeymoon visiting leading medical institutions (hospitals and universities) in France and Germany.  His wife became his life-long partner in life and in Lab.

Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was also trained at prestigious hospitals in Paris before being awarded a medical degree from Harvard Medical School (He is one of the people portrayed in David McCullough’s The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris).  He may be more well known for his writing than his contribution in medicine.

Listeria monocytogenes may not be a household name; but there were multiple cantaloupes associated Listeria outbreaks in 2011.

It is harvest time for Bok Choy, 小白菜

With the luxury of plant fluorescent light our bok choy (小白菜) grew up in a hurry, ready to venture out to the garden.  But, days of free of frost danger are still 5 or 6 weeks away.  So they end up in our dinner table with the delicious 小白菜 To-Fu Miso soup.

The only problem is that we cannot claim it is from our garden as they never got the chance to go to the garden.

On reading

Reading Churchill and Lincoln led me to discover the beauty of English language. One will read Churchill and Lincoln every so often in Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric.

I often wonder what made Churchill Churchill, or Lincoln Lincoln. Is it their innate facility or the books they read? My conclusion is that both are requisite for making Churchill and Lincoln. One cannot be Churchill or Lincoln even if one reads all the books they read.

The extensive reading is the common denominator; both are avid readers. When the young Churchill stationed in India as a soldier, his mother would ship him boxes of books from time to time. I have said enough about Lincoln's reading in this Blog. The flamboyant Oscar Wilde often boasted he was so gifted (recall is “I have nothing to declare except my genius”?) that he didn't have to read, but it is no secret that he always burnt the midnight oil.

In Boswell's Life of Johnson, he wrote,

“his [Johnson's] reading was very extensive. Dr. Adam Smith, than whom few were better judges on this subject, once observed to me that ‘Johnson knew more books than any man alive.’”

“he [Johnson] read Shakespeare at a period so early, that the speech of the ghost in Hamlet terrified him when he was alone.”

 

Our Taiwanese pumpkins (台灣南瓜) are on diet (節食)

After several weeks of growing under the artificial sun (plant fluorescent light); the Taiwanese pumpkins (台灣南瓜) have grown so vigorously that we had to put them “on diet” (節食) as it will be another six weeks or so before they can venture out to the garden.  We moved them away from the fluorescent lights; without constant lights; there will be less photosynthesis; less eating and hopefully the growth will be slowing down.

做牛做馬 (to bear the hardship; to work hard)

The Chinese idiom of  做牛做馬 (to work like an ox; to work like a horse) means “to bear the hardship; to work hard”.  The other day we tilted until the snow came.  Gene Kelly was Singin’ In The Rain; we’re tilting in the snow.  One cannot work in the garden in the rain, but it is OK to work in the snow; we've so discovered.

Mother and daughters, nay, aunt and nieces

Last week we ate the last Taiwanese pumpkin (台灣南瓜) from our garden last season.  The new generations that are growing under the plant fluorescent lights are from the seeds of last year’s Taiwanese pumpkin (台灣南瓜).  So this 台灣南瓜 was happy to see her nieces.  The seasons come and go; the generations go on.

依依睏, 一夜長一寸 (sweet sleep, sweet sleep, grow one inch every night)

Not only do we provide the artificial “sun light”, we also sing the Taiwanese lullaby, 依依睏, 一夜長一寸 (sweet sleep, sweet sleep, grow one inch every night) to the "children" we plant and raise —it only rhymes in Taiwanese or Chinese.  And that was what our snow peas did; the photos are placed chronologically in reverse order.    3/20/2013 3/17/2013 3/14/2013

Grand Garden becomes “Garden 2013”

The expansion of our garden is nearly done.  These photos (in reverse order) show the job was done in different stage; Katy is the main architect, I am but a little helper (小工).  Taking advantage of the existing wooden fence of our nice neighbor, we didn’t even buy any new chain-link fences.

I haven’t measured the dimension of the new expanded garden, but it is safe to say the length was about a stone throw away.

We now regret to call our very first garden, measuring 10 x 20 feet, “Grand Garden”, as we have run out of words (and run out of wit) to name the new garden, may be just call it “Garden 2013”.

愚公移山, 愚婦移牆. Katy singlehandedly moved the chain-link fences

When I came home from work one day last week, Katy has singlehandedly moved the chain-link fences, beginning the process of expanding the garden (again).

 

愚公移山 literally means “the dumb old man moves the mountains”, but this Chinese idiom figuratively means “where there is a will, there is a way”.   So 愚婦移牆 literally means “the old lady moves the fences”; it figuratively means “When Katy has a will, there is a way”.  She used some of the principles in physics to get the job done.

T.S. Eliot turned down George Orwell’s Animal Farm

I occupied my spare time reading George Orwell the past week or two; his letters, diaries and his ‘As I Please” series in Tribune 1943-7, and of course Animal Farm.  I may talk about him more during the garden season as Orwell was also an avid gardener, a fact not as well known as he was a democratic socialist.

                  

It is of interest to know that T.S. Eliot (then an editor of the publisher Faber and Faber) refused to publish it in 1944.  The book was finally published in August 1945.  The photo showed Orwell and T.S. Eliot once worked together in BBC during the war time; Orwell standing behind T.S. Eliot who was sitting.

Animal Farm is an allegorical novel depicting the Russia under Stalin (Napoleon).  I am sure Snowball is Leon Trotsky, although Orwell didn’t make Snowball assassinated like Trotsky was.  It is a satirical criticism to Stalin’s communism.

It was written from late 1943 to early 1944 when the Allied Force was fighting Nazi Germany hand in hand with the Stalin’s Red Army; comrades, so to speak.

T.S. Eliot didn’t feel that “this is the thing that needs saying at the moment.”  I would do the same if I were Eliot.  I cannot imagine how many more Britons or Americans would have to die without the ferocious and tenacious fighting of the Stalin’s Red Army against Hitler.  I am also reading “In Deadly Combat” which is a German Soldier’s memoir of the Eastern Front, the story of the Hitler Invasion of Russia and its defeat.

Eliot did recognize Animal Farm is a fine book and regret that the rejection would deny Faber and Faber the opportunity of publishing Orwell’s future work.  Eliot concluded his rejection letter to Orwell, “and I have a regard for your work, because it is good writing of fundamental integrity.”

I cannot think of any other author that always spoke the truth as he or she saw it more than Orwell did.

Photosynthesis by fluorescent light: You are my sunshine

The garden season begins in late February.  We do not have a green house, but we ‘raise our children’ just like they’re in a green house. 

We use GE plant fluorescent light rich in blue and red spectrum, emitting an electromagnetic spectrum that is conducive to photosynthesis.  The photos shows the Phase 1 of the lighting system; more to come.

When we turn on the light, the eggplant would lean toward the light singing “you are my sunshine”.

Some say the plants need a period of ‘darkness’ for some sort of metabolism to complete the cycle of photosynthesis.  Is it a science or pseudoscience?  Some more reading needed.

The young and the restless

These photos were taken within a few days apart.  Our garden was still covered by a sheet of white snow one day last week.  The young Taiwanese pumpkin, Italian squash, eggplant and luffa have been restlessly waiting for the spring to come so they can go out to brave the new world.

The photos of "the old and the restless" (it is also known as the "old gardeners") are not shown.  The young and the old share the same restless spirit.

高處不勝寒: The mood of the market

The Chinese idiom 高處不勝寒 comes from a very famous and beautiful Chinese poem.

高處不勝寒 literally means one can hardly bear the cold at high place.  It is not exactly equivalent to “one is lonely on top”; it basically says the mood is not elated or exuberant with high achievement.  It best describes the mood of the market now.

The Dow Jones index closed at record high on March 6; the last peak was on 10/6/2007 and bottomed out on 3/6/2009.  There was no sign of profit-taking the past 3 days; it inched up further each day on the strength of good economy data.

What goes up has to come down; the higher it climbs the harder it will drop; reaching the record high, the mood in the market may not be that of elation and exuberance, but that of uneasiness and jitteriness.

Credit is to the Fed Reserve policy.  The prolonged low interest rate (with 10-year Treasury Note/10-year CD interest rate of 2% and near zero Federal Fund rate.) and the unrelenting Federal bond buying create an investment environment that there is no place to go except the stocks.  It is exactly the same reason that one should feel uneasy.  Federal Reserve alone is doing all the heavy lifting; what will happen when it runs out of its ammunition?

The positive news is that, as the 3/7/13 WSJ editorial points out, the average stock price-earnings (PE) ratio is about 14 now, or 20% cheaper (lower) than in 2007; it means there is still plenty of room left for a bull market to run.  The Fed Reserve bets on the “wealth” effect that will boost the consumer’s confidence, leading to the prodigious spending; the consumer spending is about 70% of the economy after all.

Beautiful Chinese poem like this always makes me regret that I do not know Chinese as well as I should.  In case of 高處不勝寒, if one doesn’t know 勝 also means “able to bear” (everyone knows it means win, victory), one would have difficulty understanding it.

明月幾時有       把酒問青天
不知天上宮闕       今夕是何年

我欲乘風歸去 唯恐瓊樓玉宇
高處不勝寒 起舞弄清影 何似在人間

The reputation of HDL as a good cholesterol is crumbling

We have been led to believe that those who are endowed with high HDL have low risk for heart attack.  But the foundation of that concept seemed to be falling apart with the recent studies.

There is no controversy about “reduce LDL (bad cholesterol), reduce heart attack”; this has been proved by numerous studies.  Pfizer’s Lipitor reduced heart attack by one third.  With most statins became generic, the big pharmaceutical companies have an eye on HDL, aiming to further reduce the residual risk left by the statins.  And this is how they ran into trouble.

Last December Merck announced their raising-HDL drug (Tredaptive) failed to reduce the heart-disease risk compared with taking statin alone.  Tredaptive is niacin combined with a drug that prevents the flushing adverse effect of niacin.

Scientists are at loss to explain this discrepancy.  Theories abound.  May be not all HDL are created equal; the one raised by drug may not be the same as the one made by one’s genes.  May be the HDL got unduly credit for the protective effect; may be some unknown conditions that are associated with high HDL do the job.  And so no and on.

Many experts still believe the ‘good HDL hypothesis”; the epidemiology studies are hard to refute.  But, Dr. Kathiresan from MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital) is not so sure.  About 2.6 percent of the population has a variation of the endothelial lipase gene that gives higher HDL.  In the Lancet article (published online 5/17/12 and print 8/11/12), Dr. Kathiresan (and numerous authors) reported that they found absolutely no association between the HDL-boosting variant and risk for heart disease.    This was also reported in a 5/17/12 New York Times article.

I am reluctant to write medical news like this, lest the public get more confused.  But this is the true spirit of evidence based medicine; the real science is backed by good data.  Science is to get to the bottom of the truth; science is not afraid to tear down the ‘truth’ of what we used to believe.

We should keep open minded in this puzzle; the dust hasn’t settled yet.

Katy’s report at 世界日報: OCA Chinese Lunar New Year celebration 匹茲堡美華協會春宴

Katy’s dispatch to World Journal (世界日報), reporting the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration by Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA, 美華協會匹茲堡分會), was published today (Feb. 28).  You may read directly online,

http://www.worldjournal.com/view/wjnjpanews/21837338/article-%E5%8C%B9%E8%8C%B2%E5%A0%A1%E7%BE%8E%E8%8F%AF%E5%8D%94%E6%9C%83-%E6%98%A5%E5%AE%B4%E8%81%AF%E6%AD%A1?instance=nj1 
 

 

OCA’s Chinese Lunar New Year celebration was held at Syria Shrine Center on Feb. 23.  It was a lively and festive evening for the more than 300 attendees. Pennsylvania governor, Pittsburgh mayor and other dignitaries sent the greeting cards.

 

PA Miss Teen (Ebone M. Jimerson) and Butler County Young Miss (Kiara Lin, 林文玉 ) were invited.  The participants had photos taken with a gentleman (Michael Lynn) and lady who wore Qing Dynasty Emperor and Empress’ costumes.  This was professionally done by photographer, Edwin Shaw.

 

WTAE-TV anchorwoman, Sally Wiggin and Karen Yee  (余月紅) were the Masters of Ceremonies.  Wiggin, who studied East Asian history and Chinese history, was amazed by the rich and exuberant Chinese dancing performance.

 

Karen Yee gave the special recognition to the five high school seniors among the members of the OCA Youth Performance Ensemble.  Tara Lee is to MIT and Rachel Sew is to University of Pittsburgh.  Emily Kuo and Rachel Dailey had been the winners of Congress Service Award.

 

Rachel Dailey grew up in an environment rich in Chinese culture.  Her parents adopted a girl from China; she learned Chinese dance as a child and went to Chinese school.  It was through her effort that her high school and Xiang-Tsu High School in Shanghai (上海行知高中) became sister schools, exchanging educational visits and language teachings.  She spent one summer learning Chinese language and culture, sponsored by a Rhodes Scholarship.  She will matriculate at Ohio State University majoring Chinese.

 

The mothers of the high school seniors were asked to go up the stage to receive thanks and flowers from their daughters; a touching moment.  The vice-presiden. Mr. Hsu (許華憲先生) of Fortune Group (鴻運集團) also provided a Thank You gift to Chiapih Shaw (謝家碧) in recognition of her years of volunteering effort in teaching and showcasing Chinese dance in greater Pittsburgh area.

 

The entertainment was provided by OCA Youth Performance Ensemble, OCA Lotus Blossoms, OCA Golden Butterflies and Tzu Chi Lion Dance.   The audience enjoyed the splendid performance that was designed and choreographed by Chiapih Shaw (謝家碧).  Special guest performance came from Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh Dance Troupe.  The highlight was the audience, young and old, came in to learn to dance the exciting “bamboo dance” (竹竿舞).  The 12-course delicious dinner was provided by Pittsburgh Chinese Restaurant Association.

 

OCA President, Kai Lin, gave a report of OCA activities of last year including free clinic and parade etc, focusing on promoting Chinese culture and rigorously pursuing Asian Pacific Americans civil rights.  For those are interested in joining OCA, please visit “OCA Pittsburgh” at Facebook or visit http://www.ocapghpa.org.

(The following is Katy's report)

匹茲堡美華協會 春宴聯歡

【賓州匹茲堡訊】 世界新聞網 北美華文新聞、華商資訊

February 28, 2013

美華協會匹茲堡分會23日假敘利亞廟堂（Syria Shrine Center）舉行蛇年新春聯歡晚宴，熱鬧非凡，賓州州長、匹茲堡市長等政要皆送上賀函。

賓州妙齡小姐吉摩森(Ebone M. Jimerson)與賓州巴特勒郡小姐林文玉(Kiara Lin) 應邀出席，攝影師Edwin Shaw歡迎各界來賓與穿著清朝帝后、帝王服裝的Michael Lynn等合影。美華協會當場贈出300多張嘉賓合影照片以資留念。

當晚節目由四號電視台新聞主播莎麗偉根（Sally Wiggin）與余月紅 (Karen Yee) 共同用英語主持，修過中文的莎麗對豐富的中國舞蹈表演節目嘆為觀止。

余月紅在會中宣布，今年美華協會有五位優秀美華青年舞者即將高中畢業，轉上大學。其中Tara Lee 要去麻省理工大學。Rachel Sew要上匹大。有兩位Emily Kuo（郭至儒）和 Rachel Dailey（戴瑞雪）曾得過國會社會服務獎。

戴瑞雪因父母去中國大陸收養華女，自己深受影響，不但自幼學中國舞蹈，還上中文學校，並促成其高中學校和上海行知高中結為姐妹校，師生互換語言教學，並主辦短期師生互訪活動。她曾獲羅德獎學金（Rhodes Scholarship） 趁暑假到大陸深入認識中國文化， 今秋更要去俄亥俄州大學主修中文。

應屆畢業生的媽媽上台接受孩子的感恩獻花。鴻運集團副總裁許華憲先生也特地上台獻禮給民族舞蹈老師謝家碧，感謝她許多年來不遺餘力的義務教導華人子女民族舞蹈，讓中華文化在匹茲堡發揚光大。

當晚表演除有美華協會醒獅團、舞蹈團，還有耍龍，與會者享用由匹茲堡中餐協會烹製的佳餚，觀賞謝家碧師生精心策畫的曼妙歌舞。來賓加入學跳「竹竿舞」也是當晚活動高潮之一。

會長林凱平表示，去年舉辦義診和參加遊行等很多活動，主要是宣揚中華文化，宣導與確保美國亞太裔公民權益。他希望有意加入該協會者，可上臉書OCA Pittsburgh 或 http://www.ocapghpa.org/查詢。

 

Our garden has seen several springs

Winter is still with us and yet our garden has seen several springs; there have been periods of many days in a row of spring-like temperature.  Some of our hasty (迫不及待的) hyacinths have raised their heads to brave the new world, whose young lives only to be cut short by next run of cold/freezing temperature or covered by snow.

 

Katy rescued this hyacinth and took it indoor before the snow came last week; it bloomed next day.

 

The title of this post is inspired by Chen Xiangmei (陳香梅) whose book of A Thousand Springs: a biography of a marriage, telling the story of her marriage with General Chennault.  The book was introduced by Lin Yu Tang.  We saw her once in early 1990s, at which time Janice got some kind of award and Chen Xiangmei (陳香梅) was an honored guest in the award ceremony dinner at Silver Spring, north to Washington, D.C.  She is about 87 years old now.

 

What comes to my mind seeing this photo?

I always say something while posting a photo; this is no exception. Many things come to my mind when I see a thing when or after I travel.  This photo was taken when we visited JFK Museum and Library last October.  The background photo was taken during the 4/29/1962 White House dinner honoring Nobel Prize winners of the western hemisphere.

I wonder why Robert Frost, a literary giant even in his lifetime, was slighted or missed by the Nobel committee.  The very fact that JFK invited him there and sat beside the First Lady is the best protest.  Photo shows the Jacqueline Kennedy was talking to Robert Frost and JFK Pearl Buck (1938 Nobel Prize).  Yes, Buck is a worthy laureate, but, how can anyone say Frost is not?

This photo is scanned from a 1/9/2009 WSJ article (“Bards at the Inaugural Gates”) in which the writer talks about the four poets reciting at the Presidential Inauguration; Robert Frost (at JFK’s inauguration in 1961) was the first and the best.

It is well known that Frost, then 86, blinded by the sun’s glare reflected on the snow-covering ground, couldn’t read the verses of “Dedication” that he wrote for the occasion; instead he recited “The Gift Outright” by memory.

Some say Frost didn't change impromptu and that he discussed his “The Gift Outright” with JFK before the 1/20/1961 inauguration. Which was the case? That’s historian’s job.  This photo of Frost talking to JFK at White House was taken two days after the inauguration.

I have had difficulty understanding “the Gift Outright”until I read this new book, “The Art of Robert Frost” (see photo right) by Tim Kendall, who comments on many of Frost’s poems, then I know why the Washington Post reported Frost “stole the hearts of the inaugural crowd.”  It is fitting that Frost recited this 'patriotic' poem for the occasion by chance or by intention.

T.S. Eliot once promised to write comments on his The Waste Land, but never did.  That didn’t surprise me as he once said interpreting his poems is “your job, not mine.”

Robert Frost gave his hand written “Dedication” to JFK and it ended up in the hand of one of JFK’s assistant.  The original was donated to JFK Library in 2006.

The YouTube link is Robert Frost read his The Gift Outright,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i_Ajyek2YA