Polish Tragedy In Russia

Polish President Lech Kaczynski and some of the country’s highest military and civilian leaders died on Saturday when the presidential plane crashed as it came in for a landing in thick fog in western Russia, killing 96, officials said.

Russian and Polish officials said there were no survivors on the 26-year-old Tupolev, which was taking the president, his wife and staff to events marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre in Katyn forest of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police.
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Diddler Gets Pardon.

I was just informed of the following story, which to me has some personal significance because it was highly pubicized around the same time as the story of my sexual abuse. For once, I have to agree with our Prime Minister, although I suspect his motives are more in line with getting votes not for any concern for victims. He says he thinks it is 'gravely disturbing' in that Pope-ish sort of way, which is to say, the Pope and the church probably find child sexual abuse disturbing in that it may reduce their financial intake. Either way I think it is disturbing and wrong because it is.

Graham James Pardoned for Sex Crimes

Josh Pringle
Sunday, April 4, 2010

A former junior hockey coach who pleaded guilty to sexual assault has been quietly pardoned by the National Parole Board.

The Canadian Press reports Graham James was pardoned on January 8, 2007 after he was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in 1997.

Check out Greenpeace | Ask Nestle to give rainforests a break

Title: Greenpeace | Ask Nestle to give rainforests a break Watch the video.

The Massacre of the Innocents

The Art Gallery of Ontario was my cultural venue of choice on the weekend and I made a point of showing my son the gallery's Peter Paul Reubens masterpiece 'The Massacre of the Innocents' and it truly is a masterpiece.
The 'Innocents' in the work practically come to life on the wall and the light seems to radiate from within the oak panel on which it is painted. Although the subject matter is grotesque, violent and horrific the technical beauty amazes.

Ride The City

I know many of you out there are avid cyclists and like me are concerned with safety. Ride the City is a cycling site that has now added Toronto to the list of cities where you can map our your route and get a 'direct' route, a 'safe' route and a 'safer' route to your destination. These designations may be a bit confusing. Keep in mind the 'safer' route is the safest level and the 'direct' is the most direct, though not necessarily unsafe.
I just signed up today and did have a small issue. When you create a new user ID you are instructed to check your email for a link. Standard procedure, however, when I checked my email.... nothing, waited.... nothing. Went out for several hours and finally had  the link when I got back. Perhaps this was a minor glitch, but it has been my experience that when people sign up for something like this on the internet, they expect to receive the link immediately.

The site is nicely laid out and simple to use. You simply enter your starting address and your destination and your route will be mapped and colour coded to show you what parts are on bike paths or bike lanes and what is on regular city streets.

I tested the system by entering my address and an address that I know is a bit difficult to get to by bike. 388 Bloor to 5 Concorde Place. Ride The City worked beautifully. This is the 'safer' route information I was given on the left of the screen.


Another great idea is to show local bike shops and rental locations. Other cities that benefit from this service are Austin, New York, San Diego, Chicago, Seattle, Washington DC and more. They also offer users the option to embed the service into their own websites like this:




Check out the site and get cycling!!!