By Rhododendrites – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Lindsay Gellman, in Longreads, on German alternative cancer treatment clinics catering to foreigners and selling very expensive hope .

George Packer, in the New Yorker, with another reason to adore Dr. Ruth.

Elisabeth Poorman, in Common Health, with her personal take as a physician on the opioid crisis.

[And if you don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook, here’s a recent episode of my much neglected Weighty Mutters podcast where I chat with my 11 year old about sports drinks and track and field days]

       

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Okay, straight up: you know those big kettle drums you see in the symphony? The ones being pounded with padded drumsticks by a bald guy in a tuxedo? Well, the sound of rain from inside the tent feels like living in a kettle drum. Now, let’s be honest. The best thing about the sound of […]

The post #796 The sound of rain hitting the tent appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 8 mins

The effects of the asteroid impact and subsequent mass extinction 66 million years ago, began immediately.

Rising land could offset melting ice in Antarctica.

Fur seals don’t need REM sleep for long periods of time

How bacteria can help solve crimes

Separating kids from parents changes their brains

Educator Charlene Bearhead, left, points out features of the Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada Giant Floor Map to Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly and RCGS CEO John Geiger at a celebration of the project on Thursday, June 21. (Photo: Ben Powless/Canadian Geographic)

The Hon. Nellie Kusugak, Commissioner of Nunavut, grinned as she knelt down on The Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada Giant Floor Map and pointed to the hamlet of Arviat.

As a child in a residential school, Kusugak never heard her language spoken, nor could she find her birthplace, then known as Eskimo Point, marked on maps of Canada and the world.

“It made you wonder: do we even matter?” she said.

Read time: 6 mins

Stress level goes up. Stress level goes down. AWESOME! Photo from: here — Follow me on Twitter —

The post #797 Seeing a police car on the side of the road and realizing you’re already going the speed limit appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Jordan Peterson and Lindsay Shepherd, those intrepid champions of free speech, have launched twin lawsuits against Wilfrid Laurier University. As Peterson intimates fairly strongly in the video clip above, his own action is really about backing up Lindsay Shepherd,…

Greenpeace activists erected 51 tombstones (representing the 51 caribou herds in Canada) outside the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Canada on May 1 to denounce Canada’s failure to protect endangered caribou. (Photo: Toma Iczkovits/Greenpeace)

Three Quebec First Nations are stepping in to help save an endangered caribou herd after the provincial government said it would take no further action to stop the herd’s decline.

On Thursday, the Lac Simon Anishinabe Nation, together with the First Nations of Kitcisakik and Long Point, announced they will receive $1.26 million over five years from the federal government to implement measures to protect the Val-d’Or woodland caribou herd.

Single-use plastics like straws, coffee stir-sticks, plastic cutlery and bags are major contributors to the problem of plastic pollution in the ocean. (Photo: Kevin Krejci/Flickr)

“Plastic pollution is a global challenge that does not respect borders — it litters our streets, accumulates in our landfills and contaminates our rivers and oceans.” So said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a statement issued earlier this month for World Environment Day.

See ya later, pins and needles. Welcome back, blood. AWESOME! Photo from: here — Follow me on Youtube —

The post #798 When the blood rushes quickly back to your foot after it was asleep for a while appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 10 mins

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Two women share maternal and child health information during a home visit in Bauchi state, Nigeria. (Photo: Federation of Muslim Women Association in Nigeria)

Videos modelled on popular Nigerian soap operas are just one part of a project that is u…

Apparently conservatives have oversized amygdalae. Can this be detected in utero?…

We suck at helping our kids to be active.

Here are the past 14 years of ParticipACTION kids’ activity report card grades (click on 2018 for this year’s edition):

2018: D+
2017: Didn’t happen
2016: D-
2015: D-
2014: D-
2013: D-
2012: F
2011: F
2010: F
2009: F
2008: F
2007: F
2006: D
2005: D

So what has Canada done about it?

From my vantage point, it sure doesn’t seem like much.

As to what we could we doing, I’m honestly not sure.

One thing I am sure of though, simply telling kids to be more active (or telling them and/or their parents how inactive they are) clearly isn’t doing a whole heckuva lot. We need changes that change the default.

If you’re a parent, I’ve blogged about the simple solution you could employ to help your kids move more (move with them).

If you’re an educator, how about making every classroom/student reward an active one instead of relying on junk food (same goes for all of your various fundraising endeavours)? Oh, and get rid of inane over-protective schoolyard rules like bans on hard balls that effectively stifle active play.

If you’re a city planner, how about more time and attention paid to developing safe, comprehensive, and unified biking and walking infrastructure?

And consider too the fact that decreasing kids’ physical activity may well also be influenced by their rising weights (and not the other way around). I’ve worked with so many parents who report that as their kids gained weight, suddenly their interest in favourite activities waned. The why is something people either forget or overlook. Kids are cruel. Being picked last because you’re slow, or simply not being able to keep up, would make most kids not want to play. One comment about “jiggling” while a kid runs is liable to lead a kid to stop running. Not wanting to change in front of your peers because of fat jokes and weight bias makes is another common hurdle. Here we need to see calls to action to tackle weight bias, and continued work towards improving the way we use food with our children, and ideally ending the regular use of foods by our kids’ schools, teachers, coaches, cities, scout leaders, friends’ parents, etc. to reward, pacify, and entertain them at every turn.

So how many more years of reading these depressing report cards before we either stop issuing them, or actually do something about the problem?

       

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Read time: 4 mins

When it’s a dark, summer night, and you’re cruising around town, bass thumping, head bumping, rocking out in the backseat, let me ask you something: what feels nicer than slipping your hand out the window and letting that cool breeze wash right over you? If you said not much, baby, then you got it. Listen […]

The post #799 When the backseat car windows go down all the way appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 8 mins

President Trump took a short break this week from strengthening ties with China, Canada, England, Germany, France, Mexico, NATO and the UN to clarify his deterrence policy of frightening potential illegal immigrants by caging their children like stray dogs. Trump…

After a lot of pinching, tweezing, and biting out pops that annoying little sliver of wood, leaving behind only a tiny, satisfying puncture hole. AWESOME! Photo from: here — Subscribe to my Youtube channel —

The post #800 Finally picking that tiny splinter out of your finger appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 4 mins

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An aerial survey of southern Hudson Bay has found that the previously stable polar bear population is now in decline, with fewer cubs surviving their first year. (Photo: Martyn Obbard)

A population of polar bears in southern Hudson Bay that was previously considered stable has declined by 17 per cent in five years, new research has found.

The findings come from an extensive 2016 aerial survey of southern Hudson Bay covering an area of more than 5,000 kilometres. Compared to an equivalent study in 2011, polar bear numbers had dropped by almost a fifth.

HMCS Haida has been docked in Hamilton Harbour since 2002. Last month, she was named the ceremonial flagship of the Royal Canadian Navy, an honorary title recognizing her performance in three wars. (Photo: Photo: Laszlo Varga/Wikimedia Commons)

She was called “Canada’s fightingest ship” because, during her 20 years of service, HMCS Haida destroyed and sank more enemy tonnage than any other warship in the history of Canadian naval combat.

Now, she has been honoured for her proficiency and performance. Late last month, Haida became the very first ceremonial flagship of the Royal Canadian Navy.

The story of what made Haida a legendary warship dates back to the height of the Second World War.

More than one person shared this “Commentary” published last week by The Chronicle Herald entitled,

“Keep Canadian juice on the table for better health“

It was written by Pierre Turner and it asserted that 100% fruit juice is a source of essential nutrients and phytochemicals and that by extension juice is

“essential in helping to treat or reverse some of our leading causes of death, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and hypertension.”

The commentary goes on to talk about how juice helps combat food insecurity, that it’s nutritionally equivalent to fruit, and that the food guide is going to explicitly encourage people to consume moderate amounts of ice-cream and bacon, but to avoid juice, and that these recommendations in turn will worsen Canada’s rates of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

Now as ridiculous as the piece is, it’s not particularly surprising given the author is vice-president Quality, Sustainability, Research and Development at Lassonde Industries. It even says so at the end of the piece.

Want to take just one guess as to what Lassonde Industries produces?

So did The Chronicle Herald, who reports in their Vision statement that they’re proud of their integrity, get paid for this juice industry advertorial disguised as opinion, and was this just an example of their promise to,

“innovate to remain a relevant and competitive channel for advertisers to reach their consumers.”?

Or was this just poor judgement?

Either way, publishing industry talking points as if they’re thoughtful commentary does a disservice to readers, who instead should be taught to eat their fruit, not drink it, and also that the World Health Organization, Canada’s Heart and Stroke Foundation, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and more all recommend explicitly limiting fruit juice’s consumption. Yes, if people followed these recommendations it would be decidedly bad for the juice industry, but why that’s a concern of The Chronicle Herald (unless they’re being paid), is beyond me.

       

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Ever tried to turn on someone else’s TV? Brother, we both know that’s a tough slog, probably involving a couple of these fine moves: 1. The Brand Name Match-Up. You stare at three identical-looking black remotes on their coffee table and play Sherlock by matching brand names. You eye the Panasonic logo in the corner […]

The post #801 When you know your remote control so well you don’t need to look at the buttons appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Ottawa, ON – Justin Trudeau, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, will deliver remarks to supporters at the Laurier Club Summer Reception and Garden Party, an annual Liberal donor appreciation event, in Ottawa on June 18th, 2018. The Liberal Party of Canada has committed to the strongest standards in federal politics for openness and […]

Photocredit: Lloydminster Little Theatre It’s Patrick Ross’ birthday today. He is 37. More than seven and a half years ago, I wrote about what proved to be the initial chapter of a seemingly never-ending legal saga. My friend Robert Day,…

The first website I ever visited was Yahoo.com. The whole sordid affair went down in the mid-90s on a school trip to the Science Center. While other kids from our class learned how paper was made or watched Imax films about the Amazon, my friends and I raced to a dim room at the back […]

The post #802 Watching something download super fast appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Triumph of Death by Bruegel the Elder

Ed Yong, in The Atlantic, with his sobering thoughts on what will happen when the next big plague hits.

Chloe Dykstra, in Medium, writes about her years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of her then partner.

Olga Khazan, in The Atlantic, with her masterful must read story covering why being black in America is hazardous to your health.

       

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Sure, maybe the collar’s stretched out, the iron-on’s wearing off, and a moth chewed a few holes in the back, but how good does that translucent, tight-fitting second skin feel when you squeeze into it and rock it down the street? AWESOME! Photo from: here — Follow me on Twitter —

The post #803 Your favorite comfortable T-shirt that’s probably the oldest one in your closet appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 10 mins

Cheerios stick together due to surface enery

The inside story of the New Horizons mission to Pluto