Heritage Minister James Moore Wrong on Sexhibit

Heritage Minister James Moore is clearly wrong in his criticism of "Sex: A Tell-All Exhibition" at the Canada Science and Technology Museum.

It is not so much his criticism of the content that is wrong, although suggesting that human reproduction is an inappropriate subject for a science museum is somewhat bizarre.

But it is the expression of an opinion on a museum exhibit at all that is worrisome. The Minister should know that cultural and scientific agencies are supposed to be free of political interference or influence. Knowing that, the Minister should have avoided any statement that could have, or be seen to have, such undo influence. However it appears to be quite clear that the Minister did not try to avoid such influenza but did everything he could to have such undue influence, and his efforts have had the desired effect in causing the museum to make changes to the exhibit in response to political pressure.

This appears to be just another effort, along with reducing Statistic Canada's information gathering and closing federal libraries, in the Harper government's War on Knowledge.

Are Foreign Funded Canadian Charities Soft on Child Terrorists

Analysis by the Canadian Press shows that the three of the top four Canadian charities that received the most foreign funding were Care Canada, World Vision Canada and the Canadian UNICEF Committee, all known for helping starving children, many in war torn areas. Many of these children were victims of war and some were likely to have been child soldiers, often forced into battle by captors and even by their own parents. It is reasonable to expect that some of the foreign funders of these Canadian Charities, and even the Canadian doners, consider these children to be victims rather than the terrorists that the Harper government considers them to be. 

So is this perhaps the real root of the Harper government's concerns about foreign funding of Canadian charities, that the charities may be aiding child soldiers which they consider to be terrorists (but which the rest of the civilized world considers to be victims).

CN Cycle for CHEO 2012: Forgetting and Remembering the Hills

I described last years CN Cycle for CHEO as the best yet but I'm not sure how to describe this years. It started out cool and I dressed for it but didn't think of removing layers as it warmed up. I maintained almost the same pace as last year at just over 20 km/hr but it seemed pretty tough at times with the wind and I seemed to have forgotten all those hills till I had to ride them again and remember them.

Fortunately I got in more training rides with the early spring this season, two rides over 70 km and another two over 55 km.

Overall it was a great ride and I want to thank all my sponsors for donating to CHEO