Where are you from?...No originally from?

 

Do you ever really stop to think about where the things we have come from? And I mean other than looking at a product and reading “made in China”. Where does all the raw material come from?

Chewing Gum: The source of the chewiness of chewing gum is chicle, which is found in the sapodilla tree of Central America.

Wool: I’m sure you know that wool comes from sheep. But did you know that the majority of the world’s wool comes from Australian sheep? Yup so that wool sweater you have on, it could come from Australia. That should make you feel all warm and cozy!

Perfume: This fact makes sense to me. If I were to guess where the majority of perfume comes from I would say Europe. And would be right…kind of. The flowers used to make perfume are grown in the south of France!

Vanilla: I love a great Vanilla ice-cream! And it’s cool to know that most of the world’s vanilla beans are grown in Madagascar.

Bauxite: That aluminum foil in your kitchen could originate from Guinea, Africa. Bet you would have never guessed that! Bauxite is a major mineral used to make aluminum.

Copper: One of the very rich copper belts in the world is found in Zambia, Africa.

So maybe now you can say that the contents of your house are international! To find the origins of more materials, go to http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0770181.html .

Picture from Google

Going...Going...GONE.

I personally have many places to visit on my bucket list! But what if I tiold you that some of these places may not be around when you finally have the time and money to venture far and wide. According to factmonster.com there are some places in the world that are quickly disappearing.

Glaciers and Glacier National Parks

If you dream of witnessing the natural beauty of Glacier national parks in the USA or Canada, you may need to hurry up because they are swiftly disappearing. This is caused by the overall increase in temperature. Whether or not you believe it’s Global Warming, the fact is that in 1850, there were 150 glaciers. Now we have only 26. So buy those tickets and book vacation time because by 2030 they may not be there.

Venice Italy

Oh Venice! The city of love! Well we may soon be calling it the underwater city. Due to repeated floods, the city is estimated to be sinking at a rate of 2.5 inches every ten years. So I hope your marriage proposals are in order for the near future because it looks like Venice may be going under.

The Dead Sea

I’m sure you’ve heard of this one! The dead sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world.The salt content is so high that you can float in it with very little effort. But due to evaporation and the increased need for its water sources by the native population, the Dead Sea is losing about three feet of water each year.

For more disappearing locations, check out http://www.factmonster.com/world/travel/top-vanishing-destinations.html

Pictures from Google

The Thirst is so Real!

So you wake up in the morning, you take a 15 minute shower. You get dressed, and then you brush your teeth and wash your face. You go to your kitchen and make some coffee or tea. Let’s say this all took maybe 45 minutes to an hour.

Did you know that in this hour you have used more clean water than many families around the world would use all day?

Not to mention the fact that you didn’t have to do any work to access this water.

Can you imagine walking for hours just to reach a small, murky body of water that is filled with impurities and bacteria that could potentially kill you if not treated properly and ingested?

Okay so maybe that seems unbelievable to you. Or maybe you’re thinking, “oh yeah sure, here comes the whole look at developing countries and make me feel guilty thing”.

So let’s look at something a little closer to home shall we?

·         On average Canadians use double the water used in European countries.

·         Singapore and Munich that use as little as 100 litres of water per person each day without lowering their quality of life.

·         The average hamburger (yeah that Big Mac you had last week) requires 2,400 litres of water to produce.

·         Believe it or not, there are 10 million people in developed countries without access to safe water. That includes the USA and Canada.

·         More than 3.4 million people die each year from water sanitation related issues.

So just think about it next time you want to leave the water running whiles you brush your teeth. Despite what we like to believe, water is NOT an unlimited resources and not everyone can just get a cold glass of it when they’re thirsty.

 

Sources:

http://past.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&stormfile=how_canadians_take_water_for_130911

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/freshwater-crisis/

http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/water/

Picture from Google

Arranging it

There are some things about different cultures that we often find hard to understand. Sometimes we see certain customs are restricting and totally negative. One of these customs id arranged marriages. In a society where individuals are encouraged to make decisions for themselves and where the desire for equality is in high demand, generally, arranged marriage seems to go against all of that.

But why would countries continue to follow this custom if it was totally negative? They’re must be some positive sides to it that maybe us North Americans just can’t see at first glance.

1.       Getting a partner is guaranteed:

Think about it, if you’re really shy or awkward or simply not socially inept, the likelihood of you going on dates are low. And even if you manage to go on a date, your chances of having a successful date are even lower. With arranged marriages, the pressure is off.

2.       Parental approval:

There will be none of that forbidden love because your parents will approve of your partner. Obviously, because they picked him/her! Not to mention, with parental support comes willing babysitters at your disposal.

3.       Lower divorce rate:

I didn’t know this but in arranged marriages, commitment is the first and foremost responsibility. The couples make a very strong effort to think as a couple. They try to make decisions that will benefit them both as well as both their families. They are not blinded by emotions because those emotions are developed later on in the relationship.

These are just a few of the advantages. Now I’m not saying that you should go out and beg your family to pick a partner for you but maybe this gives you a bit of insight into other customs and beliefs.

After all, people must keep doing it because it’s been working for centuries!

Sources:

http://spotonlists.com/life/top-10-advantages-of-arranged-marriages/

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art40791.asp

Picture from Google

The Lottery of Life

Although I often talk about the issues in the world and how North Americans for the most part don’t have to deal with this issues that plague so many, I don’t say these things to make people feel bad about what they have. I just like to learn about these things and share them.

Because no one has control of the place they are born. I was born in Canada. I got lucky. I won the lottery of life.

On the grand scheme of the globe, very few people are born in developed countries. A few things play a part in this.

Mainly, the difference in cultural norms. In many developing countries, it is normal to have many children. But in North America the average number of kids per family is roughly 2.

Besides social norms, cultural differences also affect the odds of the lottery of life, for example, male dominance in society. And I know that male dominance is prevalent everywhere but unlike in North America where women are able to speak their minds and are equally educated, some countries don’t have this.

This is all to say that you should never feel bad about where you are born. Some people get lucky and others not so much. But what you do with the cards you’ve been dealt is what matters!

Picture from Google

Schoolin' Life

Oh School! Many people around the world are fortunate enough to get the opportunity to go. And just like culture and customs vary per country, so does school.

I came across a website that highlights the general school year of a few different countries in the world.

Australia:

·         The school year last from late January to mid December.

·         The school year is divided into 4 terms that last between 9 to 11 weeks.

·         There are two weeks of vacation between terms.

·         The classes usually have around 18 students.

·         They often use an integrated system where they mix for example, math and science by taking measurements and studying coral reefs.

Costa Rica: (If you recall my post on happiness, Costa Rica was placed first on overall country happiness. Does that mean their students are happier about school too?)

·         Classes usually have around 28 students.

·         Students must wear a uniform.

·         Students in Costa Rica start college at the age of 15. (Most North Americans have just started high school at this age!)

·         The school year last from February till December.

·         Costa Rica is one of the most literate counties in South America.

Iran:

·         The school year last from September till June (Just like Canada).

·         Classes usually have 27 students.

·         Boys and girls are taught separately. The Boys have male teachers and the girls have female teachers.

·         Religious studies are required.

 For more info on these countries and others, check out the link below.

http://www.factmonster.com/world/statistics/school-years.html

Pictures from Google

"Mom, I'm STARVING!"

 

Do you ever have those days where you haven’t eaten much, and you’re grumpy and uncomfortable and when someone asks you what’s wrong, you tell them that you’re STARVING?

There are very few things worse than being hungry. But if I were to tell you that I’ve ever truly been starving, I’d be lying.

Sadly, 1.02 billion people in the world know what it’s like to starve. 1 in 7 people will go to bed hungry tonight. And even they are the lucky ones compared to the 25,000 people who die every day from hunger related causes.

Living in a developed country, it’s really easy to see problems like hunger and immediately think of the poor people living in faraway lands. But this problem affects people right here in Canada.

93,000 Canadians visit the food bank each month. 38% percent of these Canadians are children and youth.

With such a high need for food around the world, you’d think it would be highly valued right? Wrong.

Each year 4 billion tons of food goes to waste.

In 2010, the USA wasted 33.79 million tons of food. To put that into perspective, that is enough food to fill the Empire State building 91 times. (Keep in mind that some of these are American facts but similar numbers can be applied to Canada.)

This is just some food for thought… hahaha see what I did there! But in all seriousness, next time you decide to order a portion of food you know you won’t be able to finish or the next time your mother cooks something you’re not too fond of, think of these statistics.

Sources:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/21-crazy-facts-about-food-waste-in-america.html

http://www.thefoodbank.ca/en/news/hunger_count.asp

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/how-much-in-food-do-canadians-waste-a-year-think-billions/article4580509/

http://www.stophungernow.org/hunger-facts

Picture from Google

The Worker

The worker must work to provide for his/her family. His/her day starts at 4:00 am. There are many jobs available for this worker. The job he/she is required to do depends on the area he/she lives in. There are lots of workers doing many different jobs. Some work in agriculture, some for the army, others in mines or the commercial sex trade business. Poverty is what drives the main need for workers. In some cases, families will agree to provide a worker in exchange for minimal amounts of money or resources simply out of desperation.

The worker works extremely hard and in very dangerous environments. You’d think that the worker would be making a lot of money right? Well some workers are paid less than 35¢ a day.

Because of working, the worker suffers many severe injuries. Some from dangerous machinery, some from toxic fumes and substances and some from dangerous locations.

Roughly 40,000 workers die from pesticide poisoning globally per year.

Many other workers die from HIV/AIDS as a result of prostitution, while others die from malnutrition.

Quite a few workers suffer with addiction to drugs.

In some cases the first requirement of the job after being hired is taking a dangerous cocktail of drugs. If the worker doesn’t do it willingly, they are forced. Many workers die from this. Either the drugs kill them or another drugged co-worker will.

18 million people under the age of 18 are these workers.

40% of them are between the ages of 7 and 10.

Sources:

http://www.justicesociety.org/child-labor

  Pictures from Google

How to Measure Happiness

 

Happiness. Everyone’s searching for it. And everyone has their own idea of what it is.

According to Webster’s English Dictionary, happiness is defined as the state of well-being and contentment or a pleasurable or satisfying experience.

I’ve felt happiness and I’ve seen happiness. I would like to say that I’m a fairly happy person but I’ll admit, sometimes that happiness can come from the wrong places or things.

Some of the happiest people I’ve met in my life are those who have the least materially or have gone through enormous struggles. They are the people who have been dealt a “bad hand” so to speak.

So this made me wonder. Considering the fact that North Americans on a whole have more materially and financially than people in different areas of the world, how does our overall level of happiness compare to those who are living in developing countries?

The data from the Happy Planet Index 2012 uses three factors to calculate overall happiness per country; life expectancy, well being and ecological footprint.

Out of 151 counties, Costa Rica was rated the happiest. They have a long life expectancy, the overall well-being of their people is high and their ecological footprint is very low. (I think it’s safe to say that I now want to live in Costa Rica!)

Canada placed 65^th on the list with high life expectancy and high well-being but a high ecological footprint to go with it.

The United States placed 105^th. The life expectancy and well-being were both good but the ecological footprint was almost humourously high.  On a scale of 1 to 10, the USA’s ecological footprint was a 7.2 compared to Costa Rica’s 2.5

The country that placed last on the list was Botswana. Their ecological footprint was a 2.8 (very close to Costa Rica!)

But sadly the life expectancy and overall well-being of their people was very low.

Honestly, take a look at the list! The link is below.  It’s so interesting!!

http://www.gfmag.com/tools/global-database/ne-data/11940-happiest-countries.html#axzz2iKFYwRIi

Picture from Google

What YOU Want to Know

You know the saying, ‘what we put in is what we get out’? Well that made me wonder. With information being so accessible these days, what are people looking for on the internet?

 My search engine of choice is Google and I’m going to assume that lots of people use it too.

 Using Google, I searched “Most searched on Google 2012” and this is what I found.

According to Google’s report, the top 10 most searched topics globally of 2012 are:

1. Whitney Houston – A popular singer who is commonly known for her hits in the 80’s for example the song I Wanna Dance with Somebody. She passed away in 2012.)
2. "Gangnam Style” – A South Korean song performed by Psy that went viral and gained huge popularity in North America.
3. Hurricane Sandy – Was the deadliest storm of the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane season.
4. iPad 3 – The next addition to the Apple iPad collection of 2012.
5. Diablo 3 – An action, role-playing video game
6. Kate Middleton – The wife of Prince William. She is the first “commoner” to marry into the British royal family.
7. 2012 London Olympics – The Olympic games hosted in London, UK
8. Amanda Todd – A fifteen year old girl who posted a video to YouTube where she used flash cards to describe her story of physical, verbal and cyber bullying before committing suicide.
9. Michael Clarke Duncan – An American actor best known for his role in The Green Mile, who passed away after complications following a heart attack.

10. "Big Brother Brazil 2012" – The Brazilian adaptation of an American reality game show.

 Interesting. Do with this information as you will. There are a few things I take away from this, firstly, that Whitney Houston was and is a big deal and deservingly so. She was incredibly talented! Also that in general, people really like knowing about other people…and electronics.

 Are people in other areas of the world concerned with other things? I checked the top Google searches of 2012 in the Philippines and according to http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2012/12/13/what-asia-cares-about-and-doesnt-according-to-google/ this is what I found.

1. Simsimi - This is a popular chat app.
2. Angry Birds – A popular app.
3.Tertris Battle – A popular app
4. Super Bass lyrics – A popular song performed by Nicki Minaj
5. Gangnam Style - A South Korean song performed by Psy that went viral and gained huge popularity in North America.

From this list I see that on average, people in the Philippines are interested in music and electronics.

 That’s not too different from my observations of other countries and it doesn’t differ very much from the content in the overall global search.

 Sources

http://technorati.com/technology/article/google-unveils-most-googled-search-for/

http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2012/12/13/what-asia-cares-about-and-doesnt-according-to-google/

Picture from Google

Guess Who!

#1 Most powerful celebrity of 2013

#1 Most influential American

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am a lover of pop culture. It entertains me and like the majority of North Americans, it’s in the forefront of my society. 

It’s really hard to avoid the media’s sensationalization of people and events in pop culture. Their faces are on magazines and in commercials. You see them in the movies and TV shows you watch.

Celebrities are very easy to recognize and people can get caught up in their lives and their accomplishments. Not that this is a bad thing! Some celebrities have done some pretty awesome things! But when it comes to celebrities we usually know the good, bad and the ugly.

But what about the people who have had an incredible impact on society? Those people without the hype and the fandom. Y’know those ones who have overcome tremendous obstacles in order to bring equality and justice to society and/or the world.

I tested myself to see how much I knew about these two classifications of people. It’s safe to say that I am very uneducated in certain areas.

100 Most influential Americans vs. 100 Most Powerful Celebrities 2013

#100: Herman Melville vs. Miranda Kerr

Herman is most commonly known as the author of Moby Dick. He is referred to as the American Shakespeare.

Miranda is a model. She is most commonly known for being a Victoria’s Secret Angel.

#50: James K Polk vs.  Drew Brees

James (or President Polk if I’m being respectful) spent one term as the president of the United States. He’s most commonly known for his “Mexican War land grab” which gave the USA the states of California, Texas and the Southwest.

Drew is an American quarterback who played for the New Orleans Saints.

#1:  Abraham Lincoln vs. Oprah

President Lincoln is most commonly known for saving the union and freeing the slaves.

Oprah is a media personality. She is most commonly known for being a talk show host and actress.

Go ahead and test you knowledge! The links of these two lists are posted below.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/12/the-top-100-influential-figures-in-american-history/305384/#slide100

http://www.ibtimes.com/forbes-lists-top-100-most-powerful-celebrities-2013-oprah-winfrey-takes-number-one-spot-full-list

Hands in My Pocket

I thought it would be interesting to see what the average North American spends money on and how much money is spent on these things. This idea came to me when I found myself spending three dollars on a bottled drink from a vending machine.

 In all honesty, three dollars for me isn’t much for me but I have heard multiple times that there are people in this world who live on less than a dollar a day. It’s sad but true.

 I thought I’d check to see our spending tendencies. I found that we spend crazy amounts of money on some pretty basic and unnecessary (ß on the grand scheme of life)  things.

 The average American spends $1,092 annually on Coffee

·         Well maybe if you weren’t spending all this money on coffee, you wouldn’t have to spend as much time at work. Therefore giving you more time to relax and sleep when you got home which would cause you to be refreshed and energized in the morning. And you therefore won’t need coffee to begin with!  I'm just saying!

 In contrast, according to The World Game Institute, in 1992 the joint effort of the Indian government, UNICEF and local non-governmental organizations was able to provide clean water to 550 Indians by installing 2.2 million hand pumps. And all this added up to $4.00 per person annually.

 Just some food for thought!

 Here’s a list of other random things the average North American spends money on from MentalFloss.com

·         In 2011, 550 million dollars were spent on pretzels

·         2.6 billion was spent on toilet paper

·         800 million was spent on taxidermy

·         800 million was spent on girl guide cookies

·         1.7 billion was spent on valentine’s day flowers

·         500 million on Twinkies

Click link to see other items. http://mentalfloss.com/article/31222/numbers-how-americans-spend-their-money

 

·         The average woman will spend $15,000 on makeup in her lifetime. http://news.instyle.com/2013/04/17/women-makeup-spending-facts/

 

 

Sorces:

http://business.time.com/2012/01/23/how-much-you-spend-each-year-on-coffee-gas-christmas-pets-beer-and-more/

 http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_a/interact/www.worldgame.org/wwwproject/what04.shtml

Picture from Google

Twerking and Death Are on the Same Level

So I’m sure you’ve heard about this fad called ‘twerking’ in some form or another. If not, just Google it and you will come across things like Miley Cyrus’2013 VMA performance as well as a variety of Vines and YouTube videos.

One of these videos will fall under the title, “Worst Twerk Fail Ever- Girl Catches Fire!”

So in case you haven’t seen the video, I’ll give you a short review. Basically what happens is this girl named Caitlin Heller is in a room dancing to some hip-hop music. She then goes into a handstand position in order to twerk upside-down against the door of this room. In the shot, viewers are able to see that her glass coffee table has four candles on it.

After a few seconds of twerking, another girl (presumably a friend or sibling), opens the door. Keep in mind that Caitlin is being supported by said door. This ultimately leads to Caitlin falling over, breaking the glass table, and catching on fire. All this happens over a 37 second time period.

This video clip went viral catching the attention of many media outlets.

But on September 9, 2013, Jimmy Kimmel revealed that this video was a hoax and that Caitlin Heller is actually a stuntwoman named Daphne Avalon.

Along with posting the extended version of the video, Jimmy, on his late night show, exposed many of the news and entertainment outlets that covered this video.

Some of these outlets include, Fox 11, msnbc, CNN Live, The Place for Politics, Global, The Talk, The View, etc.

The majority of these outlets covered this as a major news story. After showing the clips of all the news outlets, Jimmy sarcastically comments, “It’s a good thing nothing is happening in Syria right now.”

For those of you unaware of what has been taking place in Syria, here’s a brief overview.

Over the past two years the country has been in a civil war between the Ba’ath government and the rebels. This war has had and continues to have sickening amounts of casualties. According to the United Nations, in June 2013 the casualties surpassed 100,000.

In addition to the deaths, it is alleged that tens of thousands of protesters have been detained and are victims of severe torture.

 On August 21, 2013, the Syrian Government was accused of using chemical warfare on suburbs east of Damascus. These suburbs were hit with rockets containing sarin. This chemical is lethal and causes lung paralysis (leading to suffocation within 1 minute of ingestion). It is a nerve agent and even those who don’t get a lethal dose are victim to permanent neurological damage.

It is estimated that over 1,000 people were killed in this attack.

The government denies these claims which have left international intervention virtually at a standstill due to the lack of evidence.

 

By September 2013, the death toll had reached roughly 120,000.

The thing that really gets me is that between June 2013 and September 2013, two events were getting media coverage. A twerking teenager (that happened to be fake!) and the loss of roughly 20,000 more lives in Syria.

With so many things going on in the world right now, are you shocked that these pieces of media were able to make it on the same news outlets and receive similar coverage? My answer to this would be, shocked? No. Am I saddened? Yes.

I think it really shows what a great majority of people believe is important.

That is to say, I don’t blame the news and entertainment outlets for this because they simply provide the public with what we want to hear and/or see. We are the ones that decide what takes priority.

 

Image from Google

Jimmy Kimmel Live video segment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSJMoH7tnvw

Syria facts:

http://www.infoplease.com/news/2013/current-events/world_aug.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_civil_war

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_civil_war#Chemical_weapons

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Ghouta_attacks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin