1. IT SNOWED Story here. More here. Also, nobody thinks you’re funny, month of April. Go away.
2. TORNADOES DEVASTATE ARKANSAS, OKLAHOMA AND KANSAS Awful. At least 17 people are dead.
3. FLOODS AT PEGUIS FIRST RIVER Flood season is underway for our neighbours to the east and one First Nation is busy sandbagging.
4. BLOCKING THE PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW Do you believe in transparent government? Of course you do. Too bad the Harper government apparently doesn’t. Weak legislation and the government’s “culture of secrecy” are blocking Canadians from learning things they have a right to know. Long, good feature here.
5. ELECTION ACT CHANGES: MULCAIR WAITS FOR DETAILS Canada’s Official Opposition wants to read the fine print before getting to excited about the Harper Government reversal on its terrible election reform act.
6. ISRAEL: THE “A” WORD U.S. Secretary Of State John Kerry says Israel will become an apartheid state if a two-state solution isn’t found to the Palestinian occupation. Dunno about you but seems to me like a big deal that he’d actually say that word.
7. EGYPT: LET’S JUST CALL IT MURDER. SOUND FAIR? The government sentences 683 dissidents to death. In other Egyptian news, Al Jazeera demands the country pay it $150 million for damaging its investments.
8. RUSSIA: MORE SANCTIONS Read all about it.
9. HUMAN SKIN GROWN IN LAB Science! Woo!
10. CATHOLIC CHURCH SLAMMED FOR EUROPEAN ANTI-ABORTION CAMPAIGN The Church deserves to be slammed for backing nonsense like this. As one critic says in the article: “”The reasons for having an abortion are not taken in consideration. They don’t care about the life of a woman. Because who takes care of that unwanted baby? Who will give her [the woman] support – mental and physical support? If they care about life, is a woman’s life not important?”
11. AND WHILE WE’RE ON THE TOPIC OF FEMALE SEXUALITY Here are “17 Lies We Need to Stop Teaching Girls About Sex”.
12. THERE’S A WHALE FOR THE ILL-ING Authorities in Trout River, Newfoundland worry that a dead, rotting, stinking and ominously bloated and swelling blue whale carcass will disgustingly explode. Meanwhile, YouTube waits with morbid anticipation.
13. TODAY’S THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING FOR WORKERS KILLED ON THE JOB Here’s what’s up in Saskatchewan. There’s an event at 5:00 in front of City Hall. There’s a good Top 6 column by Stephen LaRose in the current print edition Prairie Dog, so if you haven’t picked it up yet, there’s your motivation.
14. DO OR DIE Does the season end for my beloved Columbus Blue Jackets tonight or will they find a way to defeat the eeevil Pittsburghers and force a game seven? Don’t pretend you don’t care. EVERYONE loves the Blue Jackets. They’re Canada’s team! YES OHIO IS IN CANADA! DON’T ARGUE! I’M AN EDITOR AND I KNOW THESE THINGS! WHAT??? NO I’M NOT SHOUTING!!!
15. HOW TO SEE CLEARLY WITHOUT YOUR GLASSES My quick experiment with this technique suggested it works. Also, now my eyes hurt.