Clicks of the Day: April 6, 7, 8 2012 Weekend Edition!

Welcome to the three-day roundup …

Weekend Edition (April 6, 7 and 8) of Clicks of the Day!

(I only do one Clicks of the Day post for the weekends so that I can actually have a weekend, lol. And amount of content will fluctuate depending on how much of a weekend I actually have!)

    Edmonton/Alberta/Canada

  • Alberta candidate says he was assaulted while campaigning
  • “Alberta Progressive Conservative Thomas Lukaszuk says he was punched and pushed Saturday afternoon while door-knocking in his Edmonton-Castle Downs riding. Lukaszuk was campaigning when he knocked on the door of a house with two Wildrose lawn signs. What happened next is in dispute. Lukaszuk told reporters the man who answered the door was immediately hostile, pushing him and punching him on the shoulder and chest. He said he tried to calm the man down while backing away, but when he turned around, the man punched him in the back… However, the 67-year-old homeowner, who identified himself only as Al, said he asked Lukaszuk to leave several times, but the three-time member of legislature stayed on his doorstep for up to 15 minutes.”

    Crazy situation… surveillance footage shows their encounter didn’t last as long as ‘Al’ says it does. Well whatever the real story is, violence should never be the answer to any problems.

  • Examining child custody issues in Canada: Part One
  • “Four in ten Canadian marriages end in divorce, and many of those breakups are not amicable – especially when children are involved. Things can get even more messy if parents can’t agree on the issue of custody. In those cases, it’s up to a judge to decide an arrangement based on “the best interests of the child.” And in Canada, that typically has meant awarding one parent with primary care… Dr. Edward Kruk, an associate professor of social work, has been studying the family court system and the effects sole custody decisions have on parents. Dr. Kruk argues that a parent should not be separated from a child unless there’s a proven history of violence. Senator Anne Cools, who has spent decades studying the psychological effects of separating a child from a parent, is also an advocate of shared parenting.”

    I’m all for shared parenting.

  • Examining child custody issues in Canada: Part Two
  • “The family court system’s separation of a child and parent after a divorce can sometimes have devastating consequences. Tom Matty knows first hand about the heart-wrenching effects of not being able to parent his own children… There is also ample research that shows a suicide epidemic among divorced fathers, linked directly to family court judgements that deprive them of day-to-day relationships with their children.”

    Sad.

  • How Mason government would impact Edmonton
  • “Brian Mason says as a former Edmonton city councillor, he understand the issues and needs of the city. He says his government would make sure important things to Edmonton, like funding for the Royal Alberta Museum, are taken into account.”

    I missed posting this on Thursday because I was having website issues. Please take a look and also look at how a Sherman government would impact Edmonton:

  • How Sherman government would impact Edmonton
  • “Liberal leader Raj Sherman is proposing several ideas to help deal with our city’s growth pressures. With the LRT being a big and expensive initiative for Edmonton, Sherman feels his party has a plan to put things on track. “We will also increase the carbon levy and apply it to absolute emissions. That will generate $300 million dollars a year every year for Edmonton, without political interference for greening our public transit system.” Sherman added that while his party would help with municipal funding, it would stay out of the decision-making process.”

    Election day is nearing!

  • Ottawa cuts funding for public Internet access
  • “Ottawa is pulling the plug on its support for a program that helps connect Canadians to affordable Internet access at schools, community centres and libraries. Industry Canada sent out letters on Thursday notifying program coordinators it would not renew funding for the Community Access Program or CAP, a service accessed disproportionately by lower-income Canadians, seniors and those with low computer literacy.”

    That’s really sad. Everyone should be able to have Internet access.

  • MacKay aware of extra $10B cost of F-35, says it includes current salaries, fuel
  • “Defence Minister Peter MacKay says he was aware two years ago that it would cost closer to $25 billion to buy a new fleet of F-35 stealth fighter jets. That’s about $10 billion more than the nearly $15 billion the government has maintained would be the price of the 65 radar-evading aircraft.”

    Hm.

    World

  • North Korea moves its controversial missile to launch pad
  • “North Korean space officials have moved all three stages of a long-range rocket into position for a controversial launch, vowing Sunday to push ahead with their plan in defiance of international warnings against violating a ban on missile activity… North Korea maintains that the launch is a scientific achievement intended to improve the nation’s faltering economy by providing detailed surveys of the countryside.”

    This is not good.

  • Syrian rebels say peace plan is doomed as violence continues to escalate
  • “Syria on Sunday demanded written guarantees insurgents will stop fighting before it pulls back troops under the terms of a UN peace plan, and a rebel leader said the initiative was doomed. “The regime will not implement this plan. This plan will fail,” Free Syrian Army (FSA) chief Riad al-Asaad told Reuters. Escalating violence has already raised questions over the ceasefire. Opposition activists said dozens of people were killed and wounded on Sunday when President Bashar al-Assad’s loyalists shelled a rebellious area near the border with Turkey.”

    You can be hopeful but this ceasefire is really looking like it isn’t happening…

  • Navy jet has ‘catastrophic mechanical malfunction,’ hits apartments in Virginia
  • “A Navy fighter jet experienced a “catastrophic mechanical malfunction” during takeoff Friday over the military community of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and rained a stench of jet fuel shortly before crashing into apartment buildings, according to residents and Navy officials.”

    It’s amazing that more people weren’t injured. Crazy.

    Health

  • Research raises hope for new generation of longer-lasting painkillers
  • “A team of Montreal researchers has solved the mystery of why the soothing effects of morphine and other similar drugs often wear off within hours, raising hopes of a new generation of longer-lasting painkillers to treat chronic conditions such as arthritis and nerve pain.”

    Oh good longer lasting addiction to painkillers…

  • Exposure of pregnant women to certain pesticides affects pregnancy: study
  • “A new study by a Simon Fraser University researcher says exposure of pregnant women to a pesticide that attacks insects’ nerve systems may affect both length of pregnancy and a newborn’s weight.”

    Among many things I’m sure that would negatively impact womens’ pregnancy.

  • Helene Campbell breathing a bit on her own after rare double-lung transplant
  • “Two days after her rare double-lung transplant surgery a 20-year-old Ottawa woman was becoming increasingly aware and responsive in her bed at the Toronto General Hospital, her mother said. Manon Campbell told Postmedia News Sunday her daughter Helene Campbell is still intubated but is breathing a bit on her own, and while she is not out of the woods yet, she is “getting better all the time.” Helene was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable and degenerative lung disease, last summer. She was told she would need a transplant to survive. A social media campaign about organ donation caught the attention of pop superstar Justin Bieber and TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.”

    Good for her… very happy she got the transplant she needed.

    Technology/Social Media

  • Facebook to fuel next generation of e-commerce
  • “A group of e-commerce startups, backed by some of the tech world’s most pedigreed financiers, are betting that Facebook Inc. can become an e-commerce powerhouse to rival Amazon.com Inc. As the world’s largest social network hurtles toward a $5-billion initial public offering, it will come under more pressure from Wall Street to find new sources of profit growth and reduce its reliance on advertising, which accounted for 85 per cent of its 2011 revenue. Some entrepreneurs and investors increasingly think “f-commerce” – meaning e-commerce on Facebook – is the answer.”

    Not a stretch at all. Facebook is taking over the world after all, lol.

  • If your account is subpoenaed, Facebook sends police, well, everything
  • “As part of its investigation of Philip Markoff, the so-called Craigslist Killer, the Boston Phoenix got hold of the documents that Facebook sent the authorities after a subpoena had been issued. These documents were part of the Boston Police Department’s case file. They reveal that, in essence, Facebook is able to reveal everything you have posted to the site. At least, that is how it seems. In this instance, the company offered up wall posts, a list of friends (complete with Facebook IDs), detailed data of logins and IP addresses, as well as all the photos Markoff posted or was tagged in.”

    Makes sense.

  • Selling You on Facebook
  • “Many popular Facebook apps are obtaining sensitive information about users—and users’ friends—so don’t be surprised if details about your religious, political and even sexual preferences start popping up in unexpected places.”

    I don’t use too many Facebook apps. This is one of the reasons why.

  • EA, named America’s worst company, tries to make amends
  • “In an apparent biteback at EA’s inconclusive ending to Mass Effect 3, voters at Consumerist declare that Electronic Arts is even worse than Bank of America.”

    Seems like a company could be ranked bad for more important things than an inconclusive game ending…

  • The rise of e-reading
  • “A fifth of American adults have read an e-book in the past year and the number of e-book readers grew after a major increase in ownership of e-book reading devices and tablet computers during the holiday gift-giving season. The average reader of e-books says she has read 24 books (the mean number) in the past 12 months, compared with an average of 15 books by a non-e-book consumer. 30% of those who read e-content say they now spend more time reading, and owners of tablets and e-book readers particularly stand out as reading more now.”

    Look at those e-books making us all a bit more bookwormy. :)

  • Is texting making us more creative? Canadian researchers think so
  • “Some call it a universal form of English. Others argue it’s most definitely ruining the language and producing a generation of illiterates. But researchers at three Canadian universities studying text messaging think we may have become more creative because of this new form of communication. ‘There’s a lot of misconceptions going around regarding the way people use language when they text.’ Guilbault said researchers want to analyze the texts to show people’s creativity with the use of language.”

    It’s a whole other way of communication including a level I call text etiquette and text chemistry, lol. If you don’t throw in an lol, haha or a smily face then you sound like a douche!

  • [Infographic]: More smartphone users taking pictures, updating statuses at restaurants
  • “Playing on your phone might be taboo while out to dinner, but more people are pulling out their mobile devices to snap and share pictures of meals and update their Facebook statuses, a new study suggests. According to an infographic by market research firm Lab42, about 19% of those that use their smartphone while at a restaurant update their status on Facebook. Meanwhile, about 24% said they take pictures of their entrees and 18% check-in to the restaurant on services such as Foursquare.”

    I am in the 24% group that take pictures of their entrees… guilty. :)

  • Three futuristic products you’ll never own
  • “The future isn’t what it used to be. Futurists of yesteryear once predicted that by the year 2000 we’d be driving nuclear-powered cars, eating food in pill form and living in domed cities. It never happened. But why? Prognosticating pundits of the past predicted those things because technology could make them possible. They forgot that the fact that something was possible didn’t necessarily make it desirable. Technology evolves, but the human brain doesn’t. The reason many futurists fail is because they forget to factor in what people want.”

    Interesting read!

    Business/Work/Economy/Media

  • Airlines’ Same Old Story: More Fees, Higher Fares, Fewer Perks, Tougher Restrictions
  • “Last summer, travelers griped about the onslaught of airlines fees—for early boarding, seat assignments, checked and carry-on baggage, and on and on—that could easily wind up adding 50% to the price of a flight. The summer before that, it wasn’t too difficult to come up with 20 reasons to hate the airlines, including disappearing amenities and unreasonable restrictions. Guess what travelers can look forward to this summer? Yep, more fees and restrictions, as well as fewer perks and higher fares to boot. Thanks in part to higher gas prices, airline fares have risen for domestic and international flights alike.”

    Consumers can expect to constantly be screwed moving forward.

  • Trayvon Martin 911 call editing gets NBC producer fired
  • “NBC News has fired a producer following a probe into its broadcasting of a misleading edit of an audio clip of a 911 emergency response call during coverage of the Trayvon Martin shooting, two sources at the network said… The edit made it appear as though Zimmerman told police that Martin was black without being prompted, when, in fact, the full tape reveals that the neighborhood watch captain only did so when responding to a question asked by the dispatcher.”

    Pretty bad move on the producers’ part… ethics, everyone. Gotta remember ethics.

  • Mike Wallace, CBS Pioneer of ‘60 Minutes,’ Dies at 93
  • “Mike Wallace, the CBS reporter who became one of the nation’s best-known broadcast journalists as an interrogator of the famous and infamous on “60 Minutes,” died on Saturday. He was 93.”

    What a legend.

    Environment/Space/Animals

  • Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos invests in space travel
  • “Amazon.com founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos is putting a chunk of his fortune — estimated at $18 billion — toward more out-of-the-box ventures. He created a private aerospace company called Blue Origin in 2000 with an aim to make space travel more affordable, and he’s spending millions to build a clock that’s supposed to last 10,000 years in the desert wilderness of West Texas.”

    Interesting ventures.

    Entertainment

  • Bully Re-rated: ‘R’ Doc Cuts a Few ‘F’s, Gets a ‘PG-13’
  • “Bullied kids can now see a movie about bullied kids. Bully, Lee Hirsch’s documentary detailing the torment that children heap on their classmates, had been rated R, which theoretically forbids those under 17 to see it without a parent or adult guardian. At issue were six uses of the F word, three of them hurled in one barrage against a 12-year-old. The Weinstein Company, which is releasing the film, agreed to remove the other three Fs if it could keep the words in the scene it considered essential. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the industry lobbying group in charge of movie ratings, yesterday agreed to the cuts, and the movie, which opened in an unrated version last week, will play in theaters permitting children to see it unaccompanied. The new rating should also encourage educators to show the film in schools.”

    Pathetic that a few F words would result in the R rating when kids see so many worse things on TV every day. I’m glad teens will be able to see the movie now.

    Weird News, Other News & Fluff

  • Five Charged in China After Teen Trades Kidney for iPhone and iPad
  • “Camping overnight at the Apple store looks pretty tame after this case. Five people in southern China have been charged for taking a 17-year-old boy’s kidney in exchange for an iPad and an iPhone. According to Reuters, one of the defendants received $35,000 for arranging the transplant for an unknown client. He split that money with a surgeon and three other defendants.”

    Unbelievable….

  • Happy First Birthday, Nyan Cat
  • “Has it really been a year since an animated GIF of a Pop-Tart cat surfing a rainbow wandered into everyone’s Internet lives? In web years, that’s like an eternity since Nyan Cat was uploaded by creator Chris Torres. And the string of spin-offs (Torres said a favorite is the “smooth jazz” version) has only cemented the cat in the proverbial Internet Hall of Fame. So give Nyan Cat its due for staying power. As of Thursday, according to YouTube Trends, the original 70 million+ viewed three-minute video still ropes in 1,000,000 people a week to be amused, befuddled or somewhere in between by the clip.”

    Wow can’t believe it’s only been a year since Nyan Cat came to be!

  • [Video]: Cats getting into the freezer
  • “I don’t understand what is in the freezer that a cat would want, but here are two examples of cats getting into the freezer.”

    LOL, so awesome. I hope Thor and Loki never learn how to do that though.


Thor (and/or Loki) Photo of the Day:

“No one can touch my Loki!” – Thor says. :)


Have your say on some of these Clicks of the Day’s!

Leave a comment!

Linda

1 Comment

  • Henry Carlos says:

    My mother was diagnosed with Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2010 and was told to quit smoking and she did. In October 2014 she had a cough and finally in February 2014 she went to the emergency room when she was coughing up blood. She never told me and kept this a secret for some reason. Mom took leave from work and at home, she was already on 5 liters of oxygen. In the hospital she just kept getting worse, she was up to 15 Liters of oxygen. The hospital suggested hospice but I couldn’t give up, we had to try herbal recommendations from a patient who has also suffered from this IPF. She started the herbal formula within three weeks she started seeing progress, after almost 5 months of the treatment all symptoms were totally reversed. My mother now walks without any oxygen, this herbal products effectively get rid of my mom’s IPF,I’m referring this to anybody there suffering from this condition and they have assurance about this treatment.Their contact details are www multivitamincare org  (Call or SMS): +1 -956- 758-7882 )

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

If you're Edmonton area, subscribe to my newsletter for hyperlocal recommendations on what to do, eat, and things to know this week!
If you're Edmonton area, subscribe to my FREE newsletter for hyperlocal recommendations on what to do, eat, things to know this week, and more!