Archive for February, 2010
Health & Lifestyle
Health File
Smog And Appendicitis
Already recognized as a risk factor for heart attack, stroke and cancer, air pollution is now also being linked to attacks of appendicitis.
“Appendicitis is one of the most common reasons for North Americans to have surgery,” says gastroenterologist Dr. Gilaad Kaplan of the University of Calgary’s Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences.
Appendicitis, an inflammation of the appendix which is found between the small and the large intestine, is a disease that accompanies industrialization, and until now it was blamed on lack of fibre in modern diets. “But that doesn’t explain the drop in rates in the mid- [...]
February 25, 2010, by Sharon Adams
Canadian Military History in Perspective
The Roar Of The Meteor: Air Force, Part 37
Although the first flights of German and British jet engine test beds occurred 21 months apart, the two nations introduced jet fighters into service at almost the same time—July 1944. But both the Me.262 and the Gloster Meteor commenced by making only a modest splash.
The prototype Meteor was so underpowered that it barely staggered into the air on July 22, 1942, in a hop that was so brief it was not even considered a flight, something that was achieved with more powerful Rover engines on March 5, 1943. Development went forward using a bewildering array of engines, and one lesson [...]
February 21, 2010, by Hugh A. Halliday
Canadian Military History in Perspective
The Stuff Of Victory: Navy, Part 37
Naval historians tend to focus on action at sea, and in the early period of the Second World War they typically find much that is wrong with Canada’s burgeoning wartime navy. There is ample evidence—as we have seen in this series—that the fleet was unprepared for war, and that the operations of Newfoundland Escort Force left a legacy of bungling ineptitude that haunted the Canadian navy for generations.
February 14, 2010, by Marc Milner
Canadian Military History in Perspective
Cold October Rain: Army, Part 86
After the capture of Rimini, Italy, on Sept. 21, 1944, 1st Canadian Division was withdrawn into 8th Army reserve to rest, reorganize and retrain while absorbing hundreds of replacements. Since Operation Olive, the battles for the Gothic Line had begun and the division had suffered 2,511 battle casualties, including 626 killed in action. More than 1,000 other men had been evacuated as “sick,” including over 400 evacuated for “battle exhaustion.”
These psychiatric casualties had proved to be a major issue in all of the Allied armies, accounting for 20 to 25 per cent of casualties. The Canadians had long since [...]
February 7, 2010, by Terry Copp
News
Saskatchewan Command 45th Convention
Delegates Show Support For Sports Events
Many of the 175 Legion delegates gained first-hand experience of an issue that weaved through many challenges on the agenda of Saskatchewan Command’s 45th convention, Oct. 17-19. The host town, Nipawin, population 5,000, is about a five-hour drive from Regina, 379 kilometres to the south.
Long-distance travel, coupled with aging members and shrinking budgets, has contributed to cutting attendance at meetings, rallies and sports events.
Sports Committee Chairman Brent Wignes said it has become an issue for the beleaguered sports program. “We must continue…to develop a program that is appealing and financially viable,” he said. Members have [...]
February 3, 2010, by Sharon Adams
Health & Lifestyle
Casualties At Home
Sitting in a dentist’s chair, Susan Binnie asks if she can stay after the dentist is through—just so she can soak up the peace. She lives near St. Albert, northwest of Edmonton with her two daughters, aged nine and 14, and her husband, a veteran who has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for 15 years. Binnie has discovered if one person in the family has PTSD, the whole family suffers.
And so she takes her peace where she finds it.
Angelle Peacock, a mother of two small boys, lives in Morinville, Alta. She is also coping with post traumatic stress disorder [...]
