Who are these fools that believe it’s okay to measure a child’s BMI (Body Mass Index), label them as overweight and decide to call it a day because they think they taught someone about health? “[A] paper published today by the American Academy of Pediatrics argues that weighing and measuring the height
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Things Are Good: Men: Drink With Your Friends to Stay Healthy
Now there’s the perfect excuse to go watch the game with your friends or just chillax in a bar! It turns out that males really benefit when they engage in face to face activities with their friends twice a week regardless of what they actually do. So go out tonight
Continue readingArt Threat: P.INK takes heathcare to an unexpected place: the tattoo parlour
As a man with no tattoos, Noel Franus is an unlikely candidate as the founder of P.INK: an organization that connects breast cancer survivors with tattoo ideas and artists. But as anyone with a family member who is also a breast cancer survivor can attest, the urge to do something
Continue readingThings Are Good: How Racing Cars Helps Babies
For the most part, Formula 1 is just entertainment, but every now and then something really nifty comes out of it. Using models and algorithms developed to monitor an F1 car’s performance, some engineers figured out how to apply them to hospitals. During a Formula 1 race, a car sends
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: BC’s Child Support Clawback Hurts Kids
British Columbia’s Child Support Clawback for Children of Parents on Government Assistance Hurts Kids When I bring up the issue of the child support clawback in British Columbia affecting single parents on temporary or disability assistance through the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation, most people are completely unaware
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: We Support The Veterans Transition Program
Submitted by Robin and Stewart on Mon, 10/07/2013 – 12:59 1999 saw the rise of the Veteran Transition Network (VTN) through the sponsorship of BC/Yukon Legion Branches and the University of British Columbia. Its mission is to help Canadian Veterans across the nation re-integrate into society, local communities, and with
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Simple pleasures and the greatest of treasures
Ok, it’s that time. Time to put down the pen, or in this case, the keyboard; start cooking dinner – very slowly, for maximum flavour – and cut the grass in the golden sun of the late afternoon… And, crank up the rock and roll on the wireless headphones! Whoo-hoo!
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: PTSD Update!
Updates from Kate and Robin and Stewart are below, as they approach the end of their campaigns! Kate’s Long Way Home has passed 1,000 kilometres on her way to Ottawa. Post by The Long Way Home. Robin and Stewart’s Marathon for Veterans is closing in on its fundraising target. There is still
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: Ronald McStrangles
Alltop is lovin’ cardiovascular asphyxiation!
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The therapeutic benefits of gardening and getting your hands in the soil
Studies have shown that gardening really is therapeutic. It has been found that there are compounds in the soil that, when they strike the olfactory senses, trigger a stress-relieving relaxation response in human beings. This makes sense, since we have spent ten thousand years digging in the soil, and associating
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Fukushima still spreading deadly radiation across northern hemisphere: one food can help protect you
Seaweed is a true super-food, high in essential nutrients, low carb, low calorie, and also, naturally high in iodine – and it helps protects the body from radiation. It is a staple in Japan and many other maritime regions. Considering the rising levels of radiation across North America due to the Fukushima
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The deeper reasons for the “war on drugs”
There is a deeper reason for the war on drugs, which is the central reason for the policy, even outweighing profits from private prisons and seizure of property by law enforcement officers, both of which no doubt are also significant and strong motivations for keeping the “war on drugs” going.
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Robin & Stewart – Our Veterans
Robin & Stewart – Our Veterans Submitted by Robin and Stewart on Mon, 09/23/2013 – 14:40 “Canadian soldiers bravely put themselves in harm’s way, prepared to sacrifice for their country. By some estimates one in five will return with the invisible wounds of PTSD” (War in The Mind). The complexities
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: My thoughts on "death with dignity"
The recent passing of Dr. Donald Low, who guided Toronto through the SARS crisis in 2003, unexpectedly sparked a revival of the difficult issue of assisted suicide when his widow, CBC alumna and medical expert Maureen Taylor, released Low’s final home video where he asked Canadians to consider what it
Continue readingThings Are Good: Open Hand: Low Cost Robotic Hand
A funding campaign on IndieGoGo is focused on making an open-sourced robotic prosthetic hand. This is wonderful because the end product will be shared with everyone and the hand can be made essentially anywhere. The Open Hand Project is open-source, which means all of the plans to make a robotic hand
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: PTSD Service Dogs: Not Widely Known, But Critical
Lots of stores, places, etc. have “no pets” signs up. That’s fine, but there are usually exceptions for service dogs. Preventing a visually-impaired person from entering a restaurant except without their service dog would be mean and generally intolerable. A long time ago, however, it was quite common to deem
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Medric Cousineau: Walking for PTSD Support
Along with Kate MacEachern and The Long Way Home and Robin & Stewart’s Marathon for Veterans we have another action in support of PTSD and Veterans, this time including service dogs! Medric Cousineau walked 1000 km to Ottawa to raise $350,000 for 50 service dogs for 50 veterans. The spirit
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: What Does India Have In Common With Regina? Asbestos
One thing we share is an abundance of unsafe Quebec chrysotile AKA asbestos. Most of the world stopped using the miracle mineral once they realized what a global disaster its widespread use had been. Inhaled asbestos fibres cause lung cancer. There is some ongoing effort four decades after its use
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: PTSD: Transitions Are Weighty
Kate MacEachern and The Long Way Home Post by The Long Way Home. There is a kind of trauma when people leave chapters in their life: graduating, retiring, marriage, childbirth, death. It takes lots of time to adjust. And it takes a toll on one’s people. And if someone does
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: PTSD: No Room for Denial
What if NO ONE knows your name? Belonging? It’s pretty important. We don’t always have to go where EVERYone knows our name, but we do need to have people. People who know, understand and affirm us. People with mental health issues, however, are often made to feel not so normal,
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