Quitting smoking is among the top ten in most lists of new year’s resolutions, but nicotine, the drug in cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, is one of the most addictive substances known. It is considered to be as addictive as cocaine or heroin.
On best intentions, quitting quitting, and how-tos for quitting smoking
December 16th, 2010 | Posted by in uncategorized - (Comments Off on On best intentions, quitting quitting, and how-tos for quitting smoking)Dealing with holiday Grinches like stress, loneliness, and other challenges
December 16th, 2010 | Posted by in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Dealing with holiday Grinches like stress, loneliness, and other challenges)
“‘Tis the season that provokes difficult emotions. This can be the maddest, saddest, most stressful time of the year. On the streets and in the malls, you can tell the holidays are approaching not only by the music and the decorations, but by the frustration and anxiety in the air.” [Source: Dr. Davidicus Wong, in BurnabyNow]
We speak with Frances Ferguson, a registered clinical counsellor. (more…)
Kitchen sink drama endures
December 9th, 2010 | Posted by in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Kitchen sink drama endures)Coronation Street brought working class lives to telly and became an international phenomenon
December 9th marks the 50th anniversary of the enduring TV program Coronation Street, one of the early examples of “kitchen sink drama” that emerged in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s. In what was cutting-edge drama, the program “used a style of social realism which often depicted the domestic situations of working class Britons living in rented accommodation and spending their off-hours in grimy pubs to explore social issues and political controversies.” [Source: Wikipedia] It also skillfully mixed comedy and pathos, a Coronation Street trademark approach that continues to this day [opens to YouTube]. (more…)
Shelter strategy criticized
December 9th, 2010 | Posted by in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Shelter strategy criticized)Nanaimo’s shelter and homelessness strategies need improvement, critics say
Extreme weather shelters in B.C. provide extra emergency shelter space during periods of winter weather when the health and safety of homeless individuals is threatened. Nanaimo’s low-barrier extreme weather shelter was opened earlier this year than in past due to changed weather criteria. Despite the relaxed guidelines, one advocate wants to see a wet-weather shelter that is open more often. Community activist Wallace Malay has been lobbying the City of Nanaimo for a shelter that is open more often—or all winter long. He’s uploading videos to YouTube and circulating emails calling for a change in approach. (more…)
AVI 25 years and counting
December 2nd, 2010 | Posted by in uncategorized - (Comments Off on AVI 25 years and counting)Vancouver Island’s regional AIDS organization continues its work amid change and challenge
On September 17, 1985, five men sat around a kitchen table and decided it was time to meet the challenge posed by the AIDS epidemic on Vancouver Island. That evening saw the birth of AIDS Vancouver Island (AVI), with the founders forming the first board of directors. Now, 25 years later, AVI serves the communities of Greater Victoria, Nanaimo, the Comox Valley, and Campbell River, and also offers services in the Port Hardy area. (more…)
Poverty knows no seasons
December 2nd, 2010 | Posted by in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Poverty knows no seasons)But the weeks leading up to Christmas are vital for food banks, charities seeking public help
The public believes that homelessness and poverty are two of the most pressing issues in Canada today. Nearly two-thirds of Canadians ranked poverty, homelessness and related issues as the most pressing social problems in Canada, in a study by The Salvation Army. And over the last two years, food bank use in Canada has risen by 28%—an unprecedented rate of growth. HungerCount 2010—a report by Canada’s food banks—shows that the effects of the recession are still being felt across the country. (more…)
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