December 2015

This song, written over forty years ago, still resonates today. It’s been performed and set to video in many ways. Here are two approaches, one in an operatic setting, the other highlighting those suffering from war and...

December 2015

• Every year around Human Rights Day on December 10, activists in more than 140 countries around the world come together to write letters calling for the protection and promotion of human rights. Why December 10? It was on December 10th, 1948, that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted at the UN by world leaders. Canadian John Humphrey...

December 2015

The obsessive drive for lower blood pressure targetsis mostly a scam DRUG BUST by Alan Cassels • What if being made to worry causes you to take more drugs, make more doctor visits and become more obsessive about your health, but doesn’t help you live a longer or better life? Would that be good medicine? I wouldn’t think so. One of the many...

December 2015

by Lisa Kilgour • Our body is pretty miraculous. It’s a self-regulating, self-healing organism that’s capable of finding balance in a chaotic world. Let’s just think about the number of things we do every day that are a strain on our body. We eat food that may or may not be what our body is looking for, we move into different temperature environments...

December 2015

by Dr. Mercola • While it’s certainly good to have an annual holiday to remind us to express gratitude, there’s much to be said for the benefits of cultivating the spirit of thankfulness year-round. People who are thankful for what they have are better able to cope with stress, have more positive emotions and are better able to reach their...

Approval of GM salmon eggs challenged in Canadian court • Environmental groups have challenged Environment Canada’s decision to approve the production of genetically modified salmon eggs, citing the ecological dangers of such a risky action. The Ecology Action Centre and Living Oceans Society partnered together in challenging Environment Canada’s decision...

December 2015

SCIENCE MATTERS by David Suzuki • Across Canada, towns and cities face a one-two punch: aging infrastructure and the extreme weather climate change brings. Unless we do something, many of our roads, railways, transit lines, bridges, stormwater pipes and other built structures could become obsolete. Our newly elected federal government took up the...

December 2015

UNIVERSE WITHIN by Gwen Randall-Young • Reincarnation occurs because we decide that we haven’t learned enough lessons. – Sylvia Browne “That’s the story of my life!” This comment is made when a negative event seems to parallel many others in one’s past. In my clients, I often see patterns or themes that have run through their...

December 2015

NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis • Around the year 1900 in the northeastern US, 80 to 90 percent of the children had the symptoms of rickets – bowed legs and seizures. The situation was eventually linked with a lack of vitamin D and sunlight. Glance out the window now. Is it grey? Well, our grey winter skies last until April and we need...

December 2015

READ IT by Bruce Mason • For millions of folks, 2015 was the “Year of the Adult Colouring Book.” After occupying at least five spots on Amazon’s Top-10 bestsellers for all 12 months, ACBs (a Common Ground acronym) are the current “most-wished-for gifts” in Canada and elsewhere. Stressed-out, screen-weary grown-ups of every...

December 2015

by Mac McLaughlin • Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo | Libra Scorpio | Sagitarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces The winter solstice takes place on December 21 at 8:49 PM (PST). For people today, the solstice probably has a lot less significance than for people born in ancient times. A couple of weeks after the solstice, it becomes very...

December 2015

INDEPENDENT MEDIA by David Christopher • As the dust settles after the recent federal election, the priorities of Canada’s new Liberal majority government are becoming clear. Early signs show the government intends to pursue an ambitious agenda: there are nearly 300 items on the to-do lists Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has assigned to members of his...

December 2015

MUSIC RISING by Bruce Mason • The long-standing love affair between Leon Bibb and Vancouver ended when the legendary performer passed away in late October in a Kitsilano care home at the age of 93. He first arrived in his adopted city in 1968 as the opening act for the then wildly popular comedian Bill Cosby. From the window of a luxury Bayshore hotel room,...