ZZZZZLEEPY?

Television and internet consumption have become necessary for human existence and have a powerful influence on the lives of people. How come? A myriad of people use pre-bedtime hours in front of a computer or TV screen on a daily basis. And so what? Well, these are the people who daily report not having slept enough that night. Then, their friends surely give them the same piece of advice daily, “just go and try to sleep a bit more tonight.” And that is precisely what they do. But still, it is not enough.

Using the computer or watching TV during long periods of time before going to bed has proved to have a negative effect on perceived sleep duration. That is, we feel as having slept much less than we really have. We might have our eyes closed but our body and mind are not at rest. Lead researcher Dr. Nakamori Suganuma, of Osaka University, Japan, carried out a research in which he explained, "while many people use electronic media, such as the internet, it should be noted that the longer media use before sleep can trigger self-perceived insufficient sleep”. His findings suggest television viewing and computer exposure at night is fooling our body clock and our sleep wake system is then completely disrupted. Then, we always feel exhausted, even after a ‘good-night sleep.’

The reality is that we do need to relax. Sometimes? Definitely, NOT SOMETIMES. I’d rather say ‘ALWAYS!’ We do need to sleep in order to learn, and we do need to learn something every day. We do need to sleep in order to remember whatever we learn. Neural networks, which help us remember, are only built at night while we sleep. Finally, we do need to sleep in order to make the right decisions. It is a fact that sleeping enhances the functioning of your brain and helps you in taking better decisions. Isn’t it interesting?

I take for granted that if you are visiting this blog and reading my contributions, you must be in front of you desktop computer, or your laptop computer, or your palmtop computer instead. It may be late at night or it may be not. In any case, maybe it’s time you should take the right decision. So, why not turning it off at this very moment? Just ‘read’ to me and do follow my advice: get away from ‘the boxes’ tonight!

Would you kill -and die- for a hamburger?

It seems that meat industry is booming these days and an increasing number of people are consuming vast quantities of animal slaughter products. But are we aware of the drawbacks that being a carnivorous might have? Maybe it is time we should start considering vegetarianism.

Take a look at the cruelty involved in intensive farming. Eating a tasty hamburger a day possibly means killing a hundred cows and having a delicious fried egg for breakfast probably implies thousands of battery hens. Yet, all these practices have not improved food quality, but made it worse. Take the examples of Cow Mad disease or Salmonella; they have spread from animals to humans, universally. So why taking part in all this?

Now consider the effects that an excess of meat can have on our health. Despite claims that some amounts of animal products are necessary for a “healthy lifestyle”, it is a fact that excessive consumption of meat is not beneficial at all. Too much meat means too much saturated fat, too many proteins, and too much sodium in our body, which might result in high blood pressure, diverse heart diseases, and, in the long run, death. Now, would you run the risk?

So are we human beings conscious of what being an animal product consumer means? I’m afraid we are not. The reality is that we sometimes tend to forget that our appetizing meaty meals directly contribute to indiscriminate slaughter of animals. And we all too often tend to ignore that our “healthy” rich-in-meat diet is not so “healthy” as we think. In fact, it can even kill us. Aren’t these more than enough reasons to turn to vegetarianism?

Annoying?

Just try gloogling “the annoying orange” and see what happens. A full list of plenty of sites appears on the screen informing, commenting, showing, criticizing or flattering these peculiarly silly 2-minute videos which are becoming famous worldwide and make anyone, no matter his age, stare at the screen kind of possessed by their images and laugh at the irritating dialogues between an orange sat on a kitchen counter and whatever vegetable, fruit or unlucky edible ‘who’ is around ‘him’. And believe me if you happen to see it, you will end up hating this particularly annoying talkative living orange which comes to be THE STAR and his very repetitive “Hey apple!” in a shrill high-pitched voice.

The first of these shorts was uploaded on October 9, 2009 and it was created by Dane Boedigheimer, most widely known as “Daneboe.” It is believed that when the first episode was uploaded, it became popular so rapidly that Daneboe started making more Annoying Orange episodes. So far, more than 200 million people have watched them on You Tube, including me.
In case you are wondering whether these shorts are profound, or consist of witty remarks, or use the language so cleverly and have such a thought-provoking effect that explains their popularity all around the globe, I must say NO. When I first saw one of them, believe me, I thought to myself “there must be something wrong with us.” The Annoying Orange episodes are exceedingly shallow and obnoxious.

So, definitely, there IS something wrong with us. Apparently, the popularity of these silly shorts is due their awfulness; that is precisely what seems to bring enjoyment to viewers. Sounds rather contradictory, doesn’t it? Some people would just argue these fruits are just great fun for them. I believe they are a source of worry instead. Adults amazed at adolescent-like jokes and young generations only discussing whether this or the other food character should have died or not. People wasting their time and emptying out their minds. No deep thought. No imagination. No critical thinking. So, this is the kind of things that are REALLY annoying: judging from this, we cannot we expect from this society nothing different from stupidity, inactivity, indifference and laziness. ONLY NOW is this an ANNOYING Orange I would say.

Breast-feeding

Did you know August was the breast-feeding month? I know you must be asking yourself “what on Earth is she talking about?” All around the world there are mothers who promote and support breast-feeding. This is, mothers feeding their baby with milk directly from their breasts rather than with artificial milk from a bottle. Because more and more women are now breastfeeding, more and more women are realizing how important this is for them and their new-born babies. However, breast milk is an advantage not only for the mother and child, but for all the society, as well. So, why on Earth breast-feeding?

Happier and healthier mummies. Yes! Breast-feeding makes mothers feel well less crazy, it helps them lose weight; it burns five thousand calories a day. What’s more...No periods! All women know what a relief that means. And it’s free. Mothers who breast-feed their babies have less risks of contracting breast cancer. Finally, It boosts mothers’ self-esteem. After all, what can be more self-rewarding than being able to feed their own babies themselves?

Happier and healthier babies. Children who are breast-fed from early stages in life grow stronger and healthier. Natural milk is beneficial for the brain development, it prevents obese babies, it reduces their chances of catching flu or being allergic or having cavities. It reduces the risks of childhood cancer. Also, breast-fed children reach a higher level of independence in their lives, and what is more important they become secure in that independence. Breast gives babies comfort but also security.

Happier and healthier society. Every time a mother chooses to breast-feed their babies themselves, they are choosing to have healthy children. These children do not suffer from many diseases and thus medicaments are needed occasionally only, which means costs are greatly lowered. And what does it mean? It means breast-feeding could save the countries millions of dollars in health care cost. Also, breast feeding is environmentally friendly. Cans and milk bottles are not used and there is no packing waste. Sounds great! Don’t you think we could all benefit from that?