(Published – Richmond News) There is something about the current Stephen Harper Conservative government that strikes me as Stone Age, antiquated and just not of this century. Harper, well known for his penchant for continually spending way too much time, money and effort kowtowing to the wishes of his rather medieval support base, just rejected a request from Canada’s space industry to support a contract that would have allowed them to build the European Space Agency’s Mars surface rover, an advanced planetary exploration robot well beyond what is currently used on Mars. This would have been a redirection of $100 million over 10 years from the Canadian Space Agency’s budget, a goodly chunk of which would have flowed into Richmond, all because Harper has yet to make up his mind about Canada’s future role in space. 

This contract, an honour not only to our international prestige, but also to our technical prowess in the field of robotics, is now going to some other country. Our significant talent pool, an area of technology that will be the next technological wave surpassing even that of computers, will no doubt head south of the border. Yet another Avro Arrow from yet another Conservative government….

Here’s a fascinating article from the Washington Post entitled Marching as to War.  Give the man a medal. There are plenty of atheists in foxholes, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  Wars create atheists in droves.  My own three tours of active duty in the Middle East did nothing but confirm my own lack of faith in any kind of deity.