A great social experiment in which women are asked to describe themselves as mothers and why do they feel what they express. After they have been recorded, their sons or daughters are asked the same questions regarding their mothers: How do you feel about your mother and why do you feel that?. The results are so contrasting and emotional, that you need to watch it to know what we are talking about. Well done!
Día: 4 noviembre, 2013
The Reward
Friends are forever, true friends. When you find one, despite the quirks and mistakes, nothing can defeat the power of friendship. Sometimes it takes long to see your friend back again, but when it happens, is like really nothing happened. Just like that. When you find support in your friend, you feel complete, secure, protected, empowered, because that’s the very nature of friendship: to find a brother, a sister, a soul-mate to share things with. The reward is friendship and power, the power of being invincible, together.
Homeless with a Mercedes McLaren
What if a desperate guy (apparently homeless) asks you for some change because he needs it very badly and suddenly, he turns back and open his Mercedes McLaren and tells you «Thank you, gas is quite expensive and this baby needs a lot to run up«? What would you do? This social experiment shows how some Americans express their contempt towards this attitude. I personally think I’d do the same. Very good prank by the way.
6 Hidden toxins that can put your pregnancy at risk
Hey, um, pregnant ladies? No one is trying to scare you, but you’re living in a vat of poison. We call it planet Earth, but actually it’s a toxic wasteland waiting for you and your child to fight against. But like I said, no need to panic! Just thought you should know. This is the gist of a new report coming from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine about all the environmental hazards that threaten our reproductive health. Nearly every pregnant woman is exposed to at least 43 different chemicals, some of them linked with miscarriages and birth defects. Did I mention the childhood cancer? It sounds overwhelming. But you can at least minimize your exposure. If you haven’t already, have a conversation with your Ob/Gyn or midwife about your chemical exposure.
Here are the toxins you should be most aware of, and what you can do about them.
1. Mercury and other heavy metals: You may not eat a lot of fish to begin with, but just in case, try to eat fish that are lower in mercury. We’ve written about lower-mercury fish that are safer to eat here on The Stir. Try not to eat more than six ounces of white or albacore tuna a week.
2. BPAs: The toxicity of bisphenol-A is still controversial, but it doesn’t hurt to err on the safe side. Look for plastics clearly marked as BPA-free.
3. Organophosphate pesticides: Exposure to organophosphate pesticides has been linked to low birth rate and premature births. Choose organic as much as you can afford to. Wash your produce thoroughly. Avoid using bug spray and other insect repellents. Don’t walk barefoot through the grass … unless you know you’ve got a chemical-free lawn.
4. Artificial sweeteners and flavours: Saccharine can cross the placenta and can leech out important nutrients. MSG has been deemed safe-enough in moderate doses, but it’s loaded with sodium, making it still a bad choice for pregnant women, especially those of you with high blood pressure. Choose fresh fruits and vegetables and avoid processed foods.
5. Triclosan and aerosol cleaners: Triclosan is in a lot of antibacterial products. Too much exposure to aerosol cleaners can cause accelerated heartbeat for you and even brain damage for your baby. Especially if you’re the one who does the most cleaning (and even if you’re not), try to find cleaning products using less toxic, «natural» ingredients. Check out the Environmental Working Group’s guide to healthy cleaning.
6. Paint, paint remover, fumes: Depending on where you work, you may be getting exposed to other toxins that aren’t great for your baby. Have a conversation with your doctor about what your workplace is like so you can find out what you’re being exposed to. Then see if there are any changes you can make, at least on a temporary basis.
Wealth inequality in the USA
This video has left me in shock!
Although American population is considered as «wealthy and sufficient», with better access to health services and better capabilities to obtain goods and services, the truth is that poverty is immense and the middle class, as stable and wide as it appears to be, it doesn’t possess the economic wealth that many times is attributed to it, because frequently they live just above their possibilities and with very tight budget.
This video is quite terrifying and shows how enormous the poverty line is, and how the lower class is almost undistinguishable from the middle one, leaving a super powerful rich minority. In other words, there is too much money, but in very few hands. A really sad and scary video that leaves me with this question: if the most powerful country in the world is in such bad condition, how other less fortunate countries would be?
What is invisible?
Gravity, the stars in day, thoughts, the human genome, time, atoms. So much of what really matters in the world is impossible to see. A stunning animation of John Lloyd’s classic TEDTalk from 2009, which will make you question what you actually know, what and who you thing you are and what’s the purpose of the universe. Sometimes we wonder about the importance of things we cannot see and many of those times, we adjudicate the reason and existence of those things to a divine and more powerful being than us. Here’s when religion and spirituality come to stage by the need of the human being to find reason and explanations to what science is still looking for, and probably will find out, because that’s the ultimate purpose and the inherent part of our lives.
SplendidMind 