NASA has played wake-up music for astronauts since the Apollo missions. (NASA/Reuters)

NASA is asking the public to choose wake-up songs to be played for its astronauts during the final space shuttle missions.

Pumping music into the shuttle to help rouse crew members has been a tradition since the Apollo space program in the 1960s and '70s.

Traditionally, the crew's family and friends made the music selections, but members of the public are now being invited to either vote for their favourite tune from a list of previous wake-up songs or submit an original composition.

You can view the list of previous wake-up songs, which includes classics such as Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones and Elton John's Rocket Man, here.

The two songs with the most votes from the list will be played to the crew on the space shuttle Discovery's final flight, which is scheduled to launch Nov.1.

Songwriters can enter their original tunes through NASA's official contest website by Jan.10, 2011. A NASA panel will screen the entries and then put the top songs up for voting. The two winning entries will be played during the space shuttle Endeavour's last mission, which is slated to begin Feb. 26, 2011.

What songs should be played on the shuttle? What are your favourite space-related tunes? Let us know.

By CBC News

Many Canadians are concerned their quality of health care will decline from the strain posed by aging baby boomers, suggests a new poll by the Canadian Medical Association.

Nearly three quarters of Canadians surveyed agreed urgent changes to the health-care system are needed to provide today's level of care to the baby boom generation.

"This year our report card shows young adult Canadians are bracing for increased health-care costs in the future," said CMA president Dr. Anne Doig.

"We know that as people age, they require more health-care services and right now, there is a very real worry that unless it is significantly transformed, our health-care system will not be able to meet the needs of future generations," she said in a release.

Read more.

Are you worried about the increasing costs of health care? Have you done anything to prepare for the future, such as buying long-term health insurance?

(This poll is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

By CBC News

A Canadian doctors' group wants the government to stop subsidizing movie productions that depict smoking in films aimed at children and teens.

Over the past five years, provinces and the federal government granted a quarter of a billion dollars to fund Hollywood productions intended for young audiences that featured smoking, according to a study released Thursday by Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada.

"Studies worldwide show smoking in movies is one of the most powerful recruiters of young people into lifelong tobacco addiction," said Neil Collishaw, the group's research director.

Every dollar in film subsidies may in the end cost Canada $1.70 in societal tobacco losses, the group said.

Read more.

Should movies and television shows intended for young audiences not depict smoking? Take our poll. (This poll is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

The federal government has pledged $33 million for flood relief efforts in Pakistan. (Mohammad Sajjad/Associated Press)

By CBC News

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon says Canada will continue to help Pakistan recover from massive flooding but that there are no immediate plans to increase the amount of money that has already been pledged.

But Cannon, who was in New York on Thursday for a special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, said, "We are not closing any options to further assist the people of Pakistan in their hour of need."

Canada has pledged $33 million for flood relief efforts in Pakistan. Cannon said Canada will continue to work with the government of Pakistan and various agencies to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches people as quickly as possible.

The UN has called for roughly $460 million to help meet immediate needs in Pakistan, but response has been slow. Ahead of Thursday's meeting, the UN said it had raised roughly half the amount needed to provide people with emergency shelter, clean water, food and medicine.

Read more.

Should the Canadian government pledge more money for Pakistan's relief effort? Why or why not?

(This is not a scientific poll. It is based on readers' responses.)

On Aug. 20, the Canadian National Exhibition kicks off its annual event in Toronto. In Vancouver, Aug. 21 will mark the Pacific National Exhibition's 100th year. Summer's unofficial last hurrah, these fairs and dozens of others across the country often mark the end of the season and usher in the beginning of fall.

The grounds play host to everything from midway rides and parades to international shopping centres and concerts. And then there's the food. Tired of the conventional beaver tails and mini donuts, this year's CNE goers can try unhealthy snacks like chocolate-covered bacon and deep-fried butter.

Are you planning to attend a fall fair in your community? What's your favourite carnival snack?

From the rides to the snacks, we want your photos and video of local fall fairs. Upload them here or email: yournews@cbc.ca.

Canada's salary freeze for many non-union workers last year appears to have thawed as employers say they plan to award base pay increases averaging 2.9 per cent in 2011.

A study by human resource consultancy Mercer, released Thursday, found that after modest planned pay hikes in 2010, more are expected in 2011.

The survey covered 600 of Canada's largest organizations, employing 845,340 non-unionized people across the country.

Read more.

Are you seeing pay increases at your workplace? Let us know. (This poll is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

A customer at the bar in Vancouver's Opus Hotel said she was shocked to discover men could watch her on video monitors placed over the urinals in the hotel's men's washroom.

Elisabeth Everett told CBC News Wednesday that she was in a group at a table in the bar celebrating her sister's birthday, but became alarmed when another patron told her they were being recorded and the video was broadcast in the men's washroom above the urinals.

There are no signs in the bar warning patrons they're on camera, but the bar menu does mention that the restrooms, including the women's, feature "live video feeds to keep an eye on the action."

Opus's website also invites patrons to "indulge your inner voyeurism" while using the facilities.

The bar's general manager said Everett's complaint was the first the hotel has received about the in-house feeds, which he said are not recorded.

If there are more complaints, the hotel might consider changing the video system, he said.

Read more.

Is this an invasion of privacy? Is there is a lack of privacy these days? Do you think people are too relaxed about their privacy?

(This poll is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

It may seem like the perfect summer activity but city councillors have put the kibosh on kite flying in one Toronto park.

Citing the problem of kite strings getting caught in trees and affecting animals, Milliken Park is now a no-fly zone. Some kite flying enthusiasts are advocates of kite fighting -- where two kites do aerial battle, trying to cut the string of their opponent.

The strings -- which in many cases are as strong as fishing line -- can get caught in trees or left on the ground, where birds and other small animals can get wrapped up in it.

Elton Highfield, whose yard backs on to the park, says he sees kite string in the trees and even found it caught in the tires of his daughter's bike but he loves seeing the colourful kites flying above his home. He says it reminds him of his childhood in Pakistan.

"This sport should always keep going," he said. "If you're not going to fly in the park where you going to fly from? Your house."

Read more

Do you think this ban goes too far? Take our poll.

(This is not a scientific poll. It is based on readers' responses.)

By CBC News

Students at a high school in Calgary are being asked to add laptops to their list of essential back-to-school supplies.

Springbank Community High School's new policy of strongly encouraging students to bring computers will better prepare them for the future, according to principal Leslie Ann Collings.
Instructors at the school will teach students which websites are credible as tools for research and fact checking, Collings added.

Students will not have access to sites like Facebook or personal email accounts in the classroom.

The school will lend computers to students who do not have laptops when classes start on Aug. 31.

Read more.

Do you think a laptop is an essential school supply? Why or why not? (This poll is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

Veterans ombudsman Pat Stogran,shown near Kandahar in April 2002. (Stephen Thorne/Canadian Press)

Veterans are protesting against the Conservative government's decision not to appoint Pat Stogran to a second term as veterans ombudsman, the voice of injured soldiers and RCMP members.

Ahead of his highly anticipated news conference Tuesday afternoon, Stogran said via Twitter that it is "hard for me not to get angry when I think how our vets are being treated!"

We want to hear from Canada's veterans to find out their stories of how they are being treated.

Are you a veteran? What has your experience been in dealing with Veterans Affairs Canada?