I had a really tough time trying to find something of interest to blog about this week. As I scanned the Web, it just seems like there is so much negative news out there. There are some positive news stories too, but the negative ones seem to far outweigh the positive ones.
I went on the CNN.com home page on Monday, April 13th and on the lower left column they list the four regions with headline news stories. Today the list included the following headlines:
Northeast
*Huge water main break floods streets
*75 sick at Passover event
*40 homes burned, firefighter injured
*Cop shootings spur 911 questions
*Priest’s car hits group outside church
South
*Woman burned while getting nails done
*Teen suffers brain injury in batting cage
*Wind-blown tree falls on nursing home
*Church uses Twitter to spread word
*Children among 5 dead from crash
Midwest
*”Miracle” flight co-pilot back in air
*Woman hit by amusement park ride
*2 officers, 2 others injured in wreck
*Cop critical after gun battle
*Pit bull saves woman from attack
West
*Four rescued from sinking boat
*2 firefighters die in intense blaze
*Trimmer trapped in palm tree dies
*Mom, son reunited on MySpace
*Couple revives poodle with CPR
Now out of these twenty stories, there were no positive headlines in the Northeast, one in the South, two in the Midwest, and three in the West. The rest were all negative news. I wonder how many hits each of these articles gets and which ones receive more hits.
I would love to see more positive stories printed. Maybe like Anne Murray’s song “A Little Good News” would go a long ways in today’s world. I think the positive stories help to lift people’s spirits and in today’s world we need all the lifting we can get. Unfortunately, they tell me that the bad news is what sells.
It would be a great survey subject to see how people respond to a week of more positive headlines than negative ones. Maybe they could have a column of negative news and a column of positive news and keep a record of how many times each column gets read. I bet people’s outlooks and moods would be just a little bit brighter.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Caffeine - Good or Bad?
I was surprised to read that 80 to 90 percent of North American adults and children consume caffeine products every day. When I thought about it though, this is not too hard to believe when you consider soda and chocolate as part of this. In an article posted by CNN.com entitled “Beware the perils of caffeine withdrawal”, experts estimate that about half of these people will experience withdrawal symptoms.
These withdrawal symptoms were only recognized as a disorder about five years ago by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Researchers also found that people who were unable to quit or cut down on their caffeine usage considered themselves to be addicted.
Caffeine is considered a drug, but not like cocaine or heroin. It is a mild stimulant which may make you feel good and energized. If some people don’t get their caffeine, they start feeling funny. Some symptoms that have been reported include headache, fatigue, sleepiness, inability to concentrate, depression, irritability, and flu-like symptoms to name a few. Withdrawal symptoms can start from 12 to 20 hours after your last cup of caffeine and last as long as a week.
Coffee is not the only thing that can lead to these symptoms though. Tea, cola, milk chocolate and hot chocolate also have caffeine which can cause withdrawal symptoms when you stop consuming them.
The article goes on to state that if you want to give up caffeine, to do so slowly. Maybe start by using decaffeinated products. It won’t be easy, but it will be easier than going cold-turkey.
In the article “Caffeine: How much is too much?” there was good information on when you should cut back on your caffeine intake. It indicates that two or three cups of brewed coffee a day is probably alright, but more than that could cause issues.
The MayoClinic.com Web site published an article called “Coffee and health: What does the research say?” Now here they say coffee doesn’t seem to hurt and it may even help. No wonder we are all so confused.
I use to drink one or two cups of coffee a day, most of the time just to keep warm. I don’t recall having any symptoms when I didn’t have coffee. I guess I just didn’t drink enough to matter. I am a tea drinker now and don’t even have that every day. I know of a few people that can drink a pot of coffee themselves in the morning. Those are probably the ones that are going to have withdrawal symptoms if they ever have to cut back. Also, it depends on how strong or weak your coffee is I think. My thinking is that there are worse habits out there other than drinking too much coffee!
These withdrawal symptoms were only recognized as a disorder about five years ago by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Researchers also found that people who were unable to quit or cut down on their caffeine usage considered themselves to be addicted.
Caffeine is considered a drug, but not like cocaine or heroin. It is a mild stimulant which may make you feel good and energized. If some people don’t get their caffeine, they start feeling funny. Some symptoms that have been reported include headache, fatigue, sleepiness, inability to concentrate, depression, irritability, and flu-like symptoms to name a few. Withdrawal symptoms can start from 12 to 20 hours after your last cup of caffeine and last as long as a week.
Coffee is not the only thing that can lead to these symptoms though. Tea, cola, milk chocolate and hot chocolate also have caffeine which can cause withdrawal symptoms when you stop consuming them.
The article goes on to state that if you want to give up caffeine, to do so slowly. Maybe start by using decaffeinated products. It won’t be easy, but it will be easier than going cold-turkey.
In the article “Caffeine: How much is too much?” there was good information on when you should cut back on your caffeine intake. It indicates that two or three cups of brewed coffee a day is probably alright, but more than that could cause issues.
The MayoClinic.com Web site published an article called “Coffee and health: What does the research say?” Now here they say coffee doesn’t seem to hurt and it may even help. No wonder we are all so confused.
I use to drink one or two cups of coffee a day, most of the time just to keep warm. I don’t recall having any symptoms when I didn’t have coffee. I guess I just didn’t drink enough to matter. I am a tea drinker now and don’t even have that every day. I know of a few people that can drink a pot of coffee themselves in the morning. Those are probably the ones that are going to have withdrawal symptoms if they ever have to cut back. Also, it depends on how strong or weak your coffee is I think. My thinking is that there are worse habits out there other than drinking too much coffee!
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