Clicks of the Day: Wednesday, July 4, 2012 Edition!

Welcome to Wednesday, July 4 2012’s Clicks of the Day!

Clicks of the Day is a daily round up of news posted Sunday through Thursday with quantity and quality of content differing depending on how busy Linda’s day is.

    Edmonton/Alberta/Canada

  • Central Alta. residents cleaning up after storm
  • “Residents of a number of central Alberta communities have begun a massive clean-up effort, after a massive storm – which some said included a tornado – tore through the area Tuesday afternoon. CTV News has learned at least two farms suffered major damages to a number of structures.”

    Crazy photos… sad for everyone’s loss! Ah, Mother Nature.

  • Council passes proposal to reduce speed limits in neighbourhoods
  • “Two years after a pilot project cut speed limits in a handful of neighbourhoods, city council has passed a proposal to allow communities to ask to have the speed limit reduced on their streets. On Wednesday, councillors passed the proposal to allow communities to ask to have their speed reduced – with 60 percent support.”

    40 is so slow though…

  • Rare comic books could fetch $80,000 at Edmonton auction
  • “Comic book collectors will have all eyes on Edmonton, Alta. this month, when 2,000 rare items will go on sale in a private auction at the end of July. From three coveted entries in the 1960s series, “The Fantastic Four,” to the first issue of Marvel Comics’ “The Avengers,” the mint finds included in this auction surfaced recently thanks to an anonymous collector. The collection dates back decades and includes more than 6,000 valuable items… The upcoming sale is expected to fetch as much as $80,000 from bidders.”

    VERY cool!!

  • Head found in Montreal park belongs to Jun Lin: police
  • “A human head found in a Montreal park on the weekend belongs to dismemberment victim Jun Lin, police have confirmed… Lin’s family has been notified of the latest discovery, police said. Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, a porn actor and model, has been charged with Lin’s murder. He was arrested in Germany after an international manhunt and extradited back to Canada last month. Magnotta has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, including first-degree murder. His preliminary court hearing has been scheduled for March 2013.”

    I’m glad his head’s been found. Some relief for his family I’m sure… Magnotta’s hearing is still so far away though.

    World

  • Germany: man facing eviction kills 4 people and himself
  • “Five people died in a hostage-taking drama on Wednesday in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe, the police said. The hostage taker, a 53-year-old man, was facing eviction from the apartment he shared with his 55-year-old girlfriend after she lost it in a foreclosure auction in April, the police said. The man took his own life after killing his girlfriend, a bailiff, a locksmith and the new owner of the apartment, said the police.”

    Awful.

  • Iran: Can destroy US bases within minutes of attack
  • “Iran has threatened to destroy US military bases across the Middle East and target Israel within minutes of being attacked, Iranian media reported on Wednesday, as Revolutionary Guards extended test-firing of ballistic missiles into a third day. Israel has hinted it may attack Iran if diplomacy fails to secure a halt to its disputed nuclear energy programme. The United States also has mooted military action as a last-resort option but has frequently nudged the Israelis to give time for intensified economic sanctions to work against Iran.”

    Oh dear.

  • Police: Parents leave 19 kids home alone with no food in sweltering heat
  • “Responding to a welfare complaint from a neighbor Monday, authorities were shocked when they entered a Kentucky home to find 19 children living in squalor with no parental supervision. Deputies said the children, who ranged in age from 8 months to 14 years, were living in the Bowling Green home with no food or working air conditioner, according to a news release by the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.”

    Wow…

  • Oregon town cancels fireworks due to effect on sea birds
  • “Officials in an Oregon town have canceled its annual fireworks show out of concern the pyrotechnics will scare the protected sea birds roosting in the area According to Fox News, the town of Depoe Bay canceled its annual fireworks show in a decision on July 3. This came after federal wildlife managers, who applied pressure to town officials, stating the noise disrupts the birds. The cancelation has upset many businesses because they’ll lose foot traffic from visitors coming to see the fireworks show.”

    I’m happy about this. :) Finally caring about the animals over ‘visitors coming to see the fireworks show.’

  • Greece excavation for new subway unearths ancient road
  • “Ancient underground roads have been discovered in Greece’s second-largest city. Archaeologists in Thessaloniki uncovered a 230-foot section on Monday of an ancient road built 1,800 years ago by the Romans in the city’s main travel artery.”

    Very cool!

  • Mystery disease kills more than 60 children in Cambodia
  • “A mysterious and seemingly fast-acting illness has killed more than 60 young children in Cambodia in three months. Now, the World Health Organization is saying it is investigating. The Cambodian Health Ministry and the World Health Organization released a joint statement Wednesday that said they are investigating the disease, which causes a high fever, severe breathing problems and neurological symptoms. At least 62 children under the age of seven have been admitted to hospitals in Cambodia with the illness. Of them, 61 have died within one to two days of hospital admission. Most were under the age of three.”

    Scary.

    Health

  • Cancer group asks U.S. to study sugary drinks, obesity
  • “A leading U.S. cancer lobby group is urging the Surgeon General to conduct a sweeping study of the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages on consumer health, saying such drinks play major role in the nation’s obesity crisis and require a U.S. action plan.”

    Probably a good idea to look into it.

  • First-time teen alcohol and drug use peaks in summer
  • “Teens are much more likely to try alcohol, cigarettes, and other drugs for the first time during the summer months, according to a new survey. Researchers found first-time use of these substances, as well as marijuana and hallucinogens, peaks during June and July with thousands more youths trying them each day compared to other months.”

    Best not to try it all, teens!

  • Scientists grow ‘highless’ marijuana
  • “They grow in a secret location in northern Israel. A tall fence, security cameras and an armed guard protect them from criminals. A hint of their sweet-scented blossom carries in the air: rows and rows of cannabis plants, as far as the eye can see. It is here, at a medical marijuana plantation atop the hills of the Galilee, where researchers say they have developed marijuana that can be used to ease the symptoms of some ailments without getting patients high.”

    That’s interesting!

    Technology/Social Media/Internet

  • Mini-iPad coming this fall?
  • “Rumors of a mythological miniature Apple tablet–smaller than the iPad but larger than the iPhone–have been circulating on the Internet for a while now, but if two new reports in the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are to be believed, the myth will become a reality by the end of the year. On Wednesday, both the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported that a smaller Apple tablet may be on the market by the year’s end.”

    Too much tech, lol.

  • One in four women deliberately posts unflattering pictures of Facebook friends, survey finds
  • “Whether they had a falling out with a friend or were seeking revenge against someone who shared a similarly bad picture, one-fourth of women admitted to having tagged unflattering photos of their friends on Facebook, according to a new survey from photo gifting site MyMemory.”

    How sad.

  • Final Fantasy 7 remake announced, character booster confirmed
  • “Square Enix revealed the rumored remake of Final Fantasy 7 today. They’re optimizing the 1997 RPG for modern PCs and also adding a few new features.”

    The best FF7 of all!!

    Business/Work/Economy/Media

  • Netflix exceeds 1 billion monthly hours of video viewing
  • “Netflix, the internet video streaming company, boasts they are world’s leading internet subscription service for watching movies and TV programs after they seem to be gaining back popularity. After achieving over a billion monthly views, Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, posted a thank you to chief content officer Ted Sarandos on his facebook account.”

    We recently re-subscribed to Netflix after we downsized our TV channels on Shaw, lol.

  • Posting, tweeting and linking to copyrighted material is okay says Federal Court
  • “This aspect of the decision should largely eliminate fears that linking to copyright materials somehow raises potential legal risks. Last year, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against attributing a defamation claim to such links and now the Federal Court has concluded that links to authorized postings cannot be said to constitute unauthorized communication and therefore infringement. For Internet users accustomed to posting, linking, tweeting, pinning, or otherwise communicating the news of the day online, they can breathe a sigh of relief as the decision sends a strong signal that such activities fall within the law.”

    Post, tweet, pin away!

    Environment/Space/Animals/Science

  • New subatomic evidence points to elusive ‘God particle’
  • “All that atom-smashing in Europe’s $10 billion Large Hadron Collider has paid off in a big discovery that scientists say helps explain another mystery of the universe.”

    This is apparently a huge deal, lol. (over my head)

  • Seabirds on B.C., Washington, Oregon coast eating bellyfuls of plastic: Study
  • “Seabirds eat everything from twine, candy wrappers and Styrofoam, and their stomach contents show there’s been a dramatic increase in plastic pollution off the Pacific Northwest coast in the last four decades, a new study suggests.”

    Sad. :(

  • Giant black hole to eat space cloud in 2013
  • “The colossal black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy will soon to get a big, tasty meal, astronomers say. A humongous gas cloud is on a collision course for the Milky Way’s core — the home of Sagittarius A* (pronounced “Sagittarius A-star”), which scientists suspect is a supermassive black hole with the mass of 4 million suns. When the huge gas cloud arrives in the vicinity, which it will appear to us to do in mid-2013, scientists say it will surely be swallowed up by the hungry black hole.”

    So interesting!

  • Mysterious ‘dust disk’ in space suddenly disappears, puzzling scientists
  • “In a cosmic case of “now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t,” a brilliant disk of dust around a Sun-like star has suddenly vanished, and the scientists who observed the disappearance aren’t sure about what happened.”

    Mysterious ways of outer space.

    Entertainment

  • JK Rowling’s first adult novel, cover image released
  • “The cover image for J. K. Rowling’s first adult novel has been revealed by the author’s British publishers, Little, Brown… The 512-page book tells the tale of an idyllic English town being ripped apart during a parish council election, which is brought about by the untimely death of one of it’s members, Barry Fairbrother.”

    Can’t wait to read it! Except I wish they’d stop calling it her first ‘adult’ novel because it keeps making me think it’s some kind of erotic, porn novel, lol.

    Weird News, Other News & Fluff

  • [Video]: Drunk guys sings to his unappreciative cat
  • Lol I love cats.

  • [Video]: Look at this swimming kitten of the day
  • Squeeee.

  • [Photos]: Look at this climbing kitten of the day
  • “Amateur photographer Ben Torode’s new kitten “finally made it to the top of its scratching pole.” The rest of the gallery is equally killer.”

    AHHH, cutest photos ever!!!!


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

We finally got them a laser pointer. The vet suggested it would be in Thor’s best interest if we did (to get her to lose weight lol)


Have your say on some of these Clicks of the Day’s! Leave a comment! Or tweet me!

Linda

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