Turkey has rebranded itself as Türkiye starting June 2022

This week, at the end of May 2022, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres formally requesting that the world body refer to his nation as Türkiye instead of Turkey. The change went into effect immediately.

The name change will be required from several international bodies as part of a rebranding campaign launched by the Turkish president late last year.

“Türkiye is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people’s culture, civilization, and values,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in December.

While the anglicized form, Turkey, is widely used, even within the country, most Turks already know their country as Türkiye.

State broadcaster TRT was quick to make the change as soon as it was announced last year, explaining that among the reasons for the image rebrand was the association with the bird traditionally associated with Christmas, New Year or Thanksgiving.

One issue that was also brought to attention was the Cambridge English Dictionary’s definition of one of the meanings of the word turkey as “something that fails badly” or “a stupid or silly person”.

As part of the re-branding, “Made in Türkiye” will feature on all exported products, and in January a tourism campaign was launched with the catch-phrase “Hello Türkiye”.

‘Hello Turkiye’ campaign to raise global awareness

Morality vs holiness – Rabbi David Aaron

I stumbled across the YouTube channel of a Jewish Rabbi who makes short animated videos that contain religious wisdom. His name is Rabbi David Aaron and I invite you to check out his Youtube channel and website, as well as his various accounts on social media.

For now, I would like to share with you one particular video of his that I enjoyed. It is about the difference between being moral and being holy from a Jewish perspective. Please watch it and share your opinions on the topic in the comment section below.

Rabbi David Aaron – The Goal is to be Whole

Stop Food Waste Day, 2022

Approximatively one-third of the food produced globally is either lost or wasted every year. That’s an unfortunate reality that needs to be addressed. Compass Group US, the global leader in foodservice, thought the same, so, in 2017 they created Stop Food Waste Day, an international day of action aimed to educate and ignite change in the fight against wasted food.

There are numerous ways in which you can observe / participate in Stop Food Waste Day. Show your support by using leftovers and fresh produce in various delicious recipes that can be found online, get organized and make a list ahead of time before you go grocery shopping, to help conserve food usage, get in the habit of freezing leftovers etc.

I invite you to spread awareness by sharing info about this holiday on your social media accounts.

You can find numerous other ideas by visiting the following websites:

https://www.stopfoodwasteday.com/en/index.html
https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/stop-food-waste-day/
https://nationaltoday.com/stop-food-waste-day/
https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/stop-food-waste-day-2022/

Let me know, in the comment section, your views on Stop Food Waste Day.

Orchids and God’s sense of humor

In the following video, Fr. Mark Goring talks about how God’s sense of humor can be seen in the various shapes of His creation, a particular example being the different types of orchid flowers:

Orchids – The is a God – He has a sense of humor – Fr. Mark Goring

I invite you to watch the video, check out Fr. Goring’s YouTube channel and watch his other online videos for more interesting Catholic content.

Interesting videos about Romania

While browsing YouTube, I came across some videos about my native country, Romania. I think they are pretty cool and I would like to share a few of them in a blog post. I invite you to check them out and learn some cool facts about Romania.

Eurasia – The History Of Romania
Epimetheus – The History Of Romania In 10 Minutes
POGKPP – History of Romania every year 780 – 2020
Masaman – Are Romanians the Last Real Descendants of the Roman Empire in the Balkans?
Knowledgia – Why did Romania switch sides in WW2?

And one more, to clarify why Italy is not named Romania:

Name Explain – Why Isn’t Italy Named Romania After The Romans?

World Sleep Day, 2022

When we speak of sleep, we generally think of nighttime, but did you know that there is a World Sleep Day?

Started in 2008, World Sleep Day is a global awareness act that celebrates sleep. Its goal is to raise awareness of sleep as a human privilege that is often compromised by the habits of modern life. The focus is on helping those with serious sleep problems.

Celebrated on the Friday before Spring Vernal Equinox of each year, this holiday has an annual 155 events held across the world and is participated by over 70 countries.

World Sleep Day was organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society, and it began with a group of health professionals and providers who were studying in the area of sleep medicine and sleep research.

For World Sleep Day 2022, which is observed on March 18, the theme and slogan is Quality Sleep, Sound Mind, Happy World. The questions asked on the official website are: How does quality sleep help maintain mental health? How might better sleep help people focus during the day? Or how might fatigue weigh us down physically, mentally, and emotionally?

To find out more about World Sleep Day, what steps to take towards improved sleep, and how to get involved in related activities, check out the following sites:

https://worldsleepsociety.org/programs/world-sleep-day/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Sleep_Day
https://esrs.eu/event/world-sleep-day-2022/
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/health/experts-encourage-everyone-to-get-enough-rest-for-world-sleep-day/2505995
https://www.lumina.com.ph/news-and-blogs/blogs/how-to-celebrate-world-sleep-day/

Jewish Book Week, 2022

Jewish Book Week is an annual international literary festival, held in London. This year, between Saturday 26 February and Sunday 06 March, is its 70th anniversary. It is organized by the Jewish Book Council, a registered charity that dates back to 1925. The Jewish Book Council is one of the oldest organization serving the Jewish community in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Every year, Jewish Book Week brings together writers and speakers – from the most prestigious to debutantes – from the worlds of history, journalism, philosophy, science, art, music, poetry and fiction, in a celebration of ideas.

Besides Jewish themes and writers, the festival also features discussions on the most important issues of the day, and is open to everyone. A number of special events are also organized over the course of the year, outside the festival period.

Click the links to find out more about the festival’s history, the team that organizes it this year, as well as the trustees and members of the Jewish Book Council. Also, follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Optimist Day, 2022

While the importance of Optimist Day is undeniable, its history is slightly confusing. There are various events that could be considered the starting point of Optimist Day.

According to Optimist.org, the day was started in 2013, when delegates in Cincinnati passed a resolution to adopt the first Thursday of every February as “Optimist Day“, after a resolution introduced by Sylvain Levesque.

All I want to be on Optimist Day 2022 is an optimist

Another site consider 2017 as the year of the holiday’s foundation, and yet another considers it to have began in 2019, in Croatia, as a festival created by the Somersby Cider company, together with a well-planned campaign that was supported by thousands of people.

Regardless of its origins, Optimist Day is a great occasion to celebrate positivity and to embrace a positive outlook on life. Optimism is usually regarded as a state of mind and can be developed by creating new ways of thinking.

This year’s Optimist Day could be a perfect time to get started retraining the brain to think positively, to see the bright side of any situation, and see the glass as half full instead of half empty.

Optimist Day is also a day in which people are encouraged to partake in small acts of kindness towards their relatives, friends, neighbors, colleagues and especially towards strangers.

To find out more cool facts about optimism, learn how to observe Optimist Day as well as ways in which we can retrain our brains to think more positively, check out the following websites:

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/optimism-day/
https://nationaldaycalendar.com/optimist-day-first-thursday-in-february/
https://www.optimist.org/member/optimistday.cfm
https://positivepsychology.com/neuroplasticity/

The Brain Science of Optimism – with Rick Hanson

I wish you a happy Optimist Day! Let me know your opinions about this holiday in the comments.

International Vegan Cuisine Month, 2022

It seems that, over the past decades, almost every month has been chosen to contain a celebration or observance of something related to veganism. While not as popular as the others vegan months, February is regarded as the International Vegan Cuisine Month.

Consisting of plant-based meals that are cruelty-free and follow a more sustainable lifestyle, vegan cuisine has increased in popularity, and is now present on almost all restaurant menus all around the world.

Vegan Cuisine Month was established by the the American Vegan Society to help bring awareness to the fact that switching from eating meat to a plant-based diet was not a difficult task. The Vegan Cuisine Month gained visibility after the founder and president of the American Vegan Society, Freya Dinshah, wrote the first cookbook published in the United States to explain veganism. Published in 1965, the book, called “The Vegan Kitchen”, described the importance and ethical purposes of veganism and became a best-seller.

Freya and her husband were a big part of creating the entire vegan movement we witness today.

Vegan Cuisine Month runs throughout the month of February. It is a month that is set out to celebrate the benefits of veganism, to bring awareness, share recipes and thoughts, as well as looking back on the past and expressing what we expect to see in the future.

For ideas on how to celebrate Vegan Cuisine Month and how to easily switch to a vegan lifestyle, check out the sites linked below:

https://navs-online.org/blog/2020/02/28/february-is-vagan-cuisine-month/
https://americanvegan.org/vegan-cuisine-month/
https://www.vrg.org/blog/2015/01/28/vegan-cuisine-month/
https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/vegan-cuisine-month/
https://www.playbuzz.com/stories/Vegan-Cuisine-Month

Veganuary Month 2022

Every year since 2014, vegans all over the world have been promoting “Veganuary” as a month-long celebration of the vegan lifestyle that focuses on the vegan diet.

Although being vegan entails omitting all animal products, not just those used in food, the main goal of “Veganuary Month” is changing people’s diets, allowing participants to move onto avoiding animal products in other lifestyle products more gradually.

A common misconception about being vegan is that the diet has to be unappealing, boring and consisting of salads and fruits, three meals a day, 7 days a week. That is so far from the truth!

Although the vegan diet does center around plant-based foods (fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts and seeds), which, according to numerous studies, leads towards an optimum health, there are now thousands of alternative vegan versions of animal products, including cheese, meat, milk, and eggs. Therefore vegans can continue to eat all the things they love such as pizza, burgers, mac and cheese and ice-cream without eating animal products.

Aside from avoiding foods that contain meat, dairy, eggs and honey, vegans also try to avoid buying or using products that contain animal ingredients, materials that have been derived from animals or products that have been tested on animals.

To find out more about “Veganuary”, visit the websites linked below:

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/veganuary-month/
https://veganuary.com/about/about-us/
https://www.vegansociety.com/take-action/campaigns/veganuary-2021
https://www.cnet.com/health/nutrition/veganuary-2022-what-to-know-about-the-one-month-vegan-challenge/

Let me know your thoughts about veganism and the “month of Veganuary”.