Mar 11, 2010

INDEPENDENT MEDIA by Steve Anderson There is something uniquely powerful about everyday people having access to the Internet from tiny devices in their pocket. That ubiquitous access to each other creates possibilities that are worth fighting for and saving. The mobile and wireless accessed Internet, combined with emerging open web and open data applications,...

Mar 11, 2010

NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina Have you ever thought of going mainly or entirely raw? You’d likely shed a few pounds. And that’s not all. Some of our favourite tastes are linked to by-products of cooking that are bad, bad, bad for us. When food is cooked, especially at high temperatures, by-products can form that pose a threat to health. Among the...

Mar 11, 2010

ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is one of the most diverse food crops in the world and was first domesticated by humans 10,000 years ago. Potatoes originated in the Andes, but only arrived in North America with the Irish settlers. The potato is best known for its carbohydrate content; a medium potato has approximately 26...

Mar 11, 2010

UNIVERSE WITHIN by Gwen Randall-Young If you awaken your soul, you will change. – Gabrielle Roth How often do we become angry or frustrated with others or the world because things do not go the way we want? This can be an occasional reaction when our favourite team loses, the car breaks down the day we have an important meeting or a friend cancels at...

Mar 11, 2010

FILMS WORTH WATCHING by Robert Alstead Fish Tank (out on March 12) is one of those gritty, working class, Brit flicks that makes few concessions to the demands of commercial cinema. Set in the grimy hinterlands of contemporary underclass England, it’s a rite of passage drama about a bored and stroppy teenager, Mia, whose transition into adulthood...

Mar 11, 2010

EARTHFUTURE by Guy Dauncey This month, and this month only, SolarBC will contribute $2,000 – twice the current incentive – if you install a solar hot water system by the end of March 2010. So don’t delay, don’t go astray, go solar today with SolarBC.ca. But first let me take you on a journey of the mind. If it’s daytime, look out...

Mar 11, 2010

SCIENCE MATTERS by David Suzuki with Faisal Moola In December, Canadian specialty TV channel Business News Network interviewed me about the climate summit in Copenhagen. My six-minute interview followed a five-minute live report from Copenhagen, about poor countries demanding more money to address climate change and rich countries pleading a lack of resources....

Mar 11, 2010

WRITING ON THE WALL by Maya Angelou Life lessons: I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Each of us has that right, that possibility, to invent ourselves daily. If a person does not invent herself, she will be invented. So, to be bodacious enough to invent...

Mar 11, 2010

by Alan di Perna Concert, chantfest, musical group meditation, a yoga class in melody . . . how best to describe a live performance by Snatam Kaur and her band? It’s all of these things and more. Seated center stage, Snatam is an angelic presence, dressed in traditional Sikh attire, bejeweled dress, white turban and veil. She’s a diminutive woman,...

Mar 11, 2010

The Vancouver 2010 Olympics have made the podium with a bronze medal for their efforts to reduce the event’s climate impact, according to a climate scorecard released by the David Suzuki Foundation. Achievements of the 2010 Olympics include building energy efficient venues, using clean-energy sources, relying on public transit during the Games and...

  The foods we eat contain a variety of vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients that help keep our bodies healthy. Calcium is needed for our heart, muscles and nerves to function properly and for blood to clot. Inadequate calcium significantly contributes to the development of osteoporosis. Many published studies show that low calcium intake...

Mar 11, 2010

Bill Vander Zalm interview by Joseph Roberts Joseph Roberts: How did you get involved in the HST issue? Bill Vander Zalm: I was watching television one evening with Lillian and it was announced on the news, as a matter of fact, that the HST was going to happen and they briefly explained it. I said, “They’re not really telling us what...

The right place, the right healthcare for the right patient DRUG BUST by Alan Cassels No one can spend a lot of time studying pharmaceutical policy without collecting a lot of stories about the behaviour of physicians and patients. When you look at both sides of the prescription pad, the human element is both interesting and important, especially since the...