Author: rww
THE FIFTH COLUMN: The Lime Kiln Technical Trail Will Never Be The Same
Today we finally had the opportunity to hike the Lime Kiln Technical Trail for the first time since the Lime Kiln area fire in the Stony Swamp Conservation Area. (click on map to enlarge) Things are looking pretty good for the first part of the trail, although you start to
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Martha Webber on the Destruction of the Beaver Pond Forest
Martha Webber, renowned Kanata/Ottawa botanist, naturalist and educator, wrote the following in response to the news of the final complete clear-cutting of the Beaver Pond Forest in the South March Highlands. It is posted here with her permission. Is there no way to end the destruction? This old growth forest
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: "Tour de Sudbury" – Cycling in Sudbury
Our hometown of Sudbury is not known for it’s cycling infrastructure or even for a positive attitude towards cycling but there are organizations like the Sudbury Cyclists Union, the Rainbow Routes Association and the Sudbury Cycles Project that are trying to change that and there is even a proposed Bicycle
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Ireland Bike Tour – Post Bike Tour Slide Shows
After the bike tour we stayed in Ennis for a few days and took a bus to Limerick for a day tour. The most interesting observation we made was that while Ennis had narrow streets with one lane one way traffic and narrow sidewalks, much of Limerick had wide streets
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Ireland Bike Tour – Cycling Day 6 Slide Show
This was the longest ride of the tour but not too bad as far as hills go, except for the last ride into Westport, up and down and then back up and down again. Lots of scenery but not too many photo stops because of the long ride and then
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Ireland Bike Tour – Break Day Slide Show
We took today easy, went for a walk near the lodge on Lough Inagh in the morning and managed to talk Jeff into driving us to the Kylemore Abbey in the afternoon where we explored the grounds and the remarkable gardens. There is some real interesting history about this place.
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Ireland Bike Tour – Cycling Day 5, Sheep Shearing, Flowers and More Slide Shows
If you’ve ever been to a county fair or watched a movie about Australia you have seen sheep sheering, but usually with electric shears. In this part of Ireland they use hand shears and probably sheer the sheep faster and cleaner than with the electric ones. This was a great
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Ireland Bike Tour – Cycling Day 4, Discovering Ireland’s Sheep Slide Show
Today was a day at the beach as we stopped at a wonderful little beach along the route, as well as made a visit to the lovely town of Clifden. More scenery, and did I mention the sheep. The sheep in Ireland seem to have priority over the roads, followed
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Ireland Bike Tour – Cycling Day 3, The Aran Islands Slide Show
Most of the day was spent on one of the Aran Islands. It was a great day for photography as it was actually sunny and there was so much to photograph, from a remarkable fort to literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of stone fences from millions of stones dividing up the
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Ireland Bike Tour – Cycling Day 2, To The Burren Slide Show
Today we did a circle route through the remarkable Burren, a landscape that almost defies description, although parts of Ottawa’s Lime Kiln Trail with it’s underlying Limestone hints at it. And, of course it’s Ireland so there were more ruins. This was the second hardest climbing day of the tour.
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Ireland Bike Tour – Cycling Day 1, The Irish Landscape Slide Show
Today we got setup on our bikes with our self-guiding instructions so we could ride on our own while Jeff went ahead with the van and then would mysteriously appear on his bike cycling towards us to make sure we were not lost. We rode to the Cliffs of Moher
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Ireland Bike Tour – Ennis Slide Show
We arrived a few days early and got to know the town of Ennis which was full of stone walls, first thing we noticed, and lots of local shops and pubs – no Walmarts or big box stores. The only chain store we noticed was a large Irish department store,
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Ireland Bike Tour Overview
In recalling our wonderful bike tour of Ireland at first it seems like one long uphill ride in the rain, the green being the only constant. But actually every day was different with many different landscapes and varied geography throughout the over 300 kilometre route. We even had some dry
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Open Letter to the National Capital Commission re Lime Kiln Trail Fire
The fire near the Lime Kiln Trail has been described as a tragedy. Perhaps not. If houses or roads had been built on the land it certainly would be a tragedy that the forest would never recover from, though some would call it development or progress. But the forest will
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Religious Bullshit and Assisted Suicide Law Struck Down
If you are a religious person you know that life is sacred and only god can decide when and how you will die. You also know that god has a plan for you and works in mysterious ways. So he might decide that you will die quietly in your sleep
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Bill That Couldn’t Happen Here
Back when I worked for the House of Commons, every time an Omnibus Bill was proposed (and the usual discussions and negotiations around splitting it were occurring) we would joke about the ultimate Omnibus Bill – An Act for the Government of Canada, with everything a government wanted to do
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: God Created Adam and Eve Not Adam and Steve
I’m really not sure why religious right wingers always seem to use this phrase in reference to the Adam and Eve story (as well as other Old Testament references) to justify their claims that homosexuality is an abomination (and as the Catholic school system would call it “intrinsically disordered”). The
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Endangered Species Legislation Wrong Approach
Trying to protect endangered species is simply the wrong approach to protecting wildlife. What we do is allow open season on development/destruction of wildlife habitat unless it contains endangered species. Then we make a half-hearted token attempt to protect those species, often while still allowing the development/destruction of the habitat
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: 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
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