Jeff Pinhey suggests Nova Scotia take a page from the "IMBY syndrome" he observed on while riding the Train à Grande Vitesse from Paris to Amsterdam. The Dutch, who arguably know as much about windmills as anyone, choose to put their power generating ones in places where there already is a lot of background noise:  along a train line and urban freeway.  This is one of what must have been 20 that followed the rail line. Probably can't even tell they make a noise here. I find it puzzling that we seem to be forcing our windmills into areas as remote as...

16 September, 2009

Alistair Watt writes: The negative effects of living next to a wind power generating station have been known for some time. Consequently, to label opposition to them on that basis as NIMBY is unfair. Not In Anyone's Back Yard (NIABY) would be more appropriate. OK, let's review. We have to do something about electrical generation in Nova Scotia, because we currently burn the dirtiest possible fuel, coal, to produce about 75 percent of our power, and greenhouse gasses pose a grave and urgent risk to the future of the planet.  However: We can't use hydro, because there are no big rivers left to...

16 September, 2009

The Plaskett boy got a nice lift today when Apple's on-line iTunes store headlined him as their featured New Music Tuesday performer. The promotion, which includes an album of 12 songs and an equal number of interview cuts, was emailed to every registered iTunes user in Canada, ...

15 September, 2009
Contrarian's praise for Barry Zwicker's blunt response to opponents of his company's 30-megawatt wind farm on Digby Neck drew fire from two of those opponents. Dan Mills argues that citizens confronted with unwanted developments should not be faulted for lacking the smooth communications chops of a professional developer
15 September, 2009
Contrarian's submission to the National Consultation on Copyright focuses on an issue that has received little attention in the consultation, an area in which current Canadian law provides a striking lack of balance, an issue in which Canadian law is not decades but centuries out of date: the issue of Crown Copyright. To view the submission, please click the "read more" button.
13 September, 2009

Above, a rock outcropping with natural bridge lies just off the western shore of Port Hood Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Below, a little-known artifact from the annals of engineering in Nova Scotia. Fifty-one years ago, the Department of Highways built a causeway to connect Port Hood Island with Cape Breton at the village of Port Hood. Three days after the fixed link opened, a storm washed it away. The structure was never rebuilt, but its remnants, known as The Breakwater, remain plainly visible today. Contrarian thanks Skipper David Smith....

12 September, 2009

Cliff White responds: I heard that interview on CBC and I agree with your assessment of his presentation. Ah, but ah Mr. Contrarian, I fear your own experience has prejudiced your judgment somewhat. I don't know why, for instance, you target  eco-narcissists and project opponents with the faults you identify. In my experience these characteristics are generally exhibited by both sides in these disputes. There are usually people on both sides who adopt a more reason and evidence-based approach. In addition, again in my experience, it is often the citizen non-professionals who do much deeper research on the topic at hand and often...

11 September, 2009

For some time, Contrarian has been struck by the Parliamentary Press Gallery's abhorrence of elections. It seems they cannot resist any pretext to drum up a story about what an abomination it would be to let Canadians vote.  What would World War II vets make of this mindset.  Tories scarcely need to press this partisan talking point; the press gallery does all the heavy lifting for them. Could the media's incessant nattering on this point could be driving public opinion? Maclean's Magazine's ineffable Kady O'Malley wonders the same thing. Moneyquote: [I]s anyone else sick to death of hearing about how Hill...

10 September, 2009

At its recent Data Expo, the American Statistical Association held a contest for the best graphical display of the factors involved in commercial flight delays. This image, the second prize winner, from a team at Iowa State University, shows the prevalence of delays by day of the week and time of the year over a five year period. The more delays, the redder the square. Notice how 9/11 really did change everything. Contestants were given a 12-gigabyte dataset consisting of flight arrival and departure information for all commercial flights within the USA, from October 1987 to April 2008. There were...

10 September, 2009
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