Lindsay Brown doesn't like anonymous posting: The good news here is that Halifax media are inadvertently leading the charge against the silly practice of anonymous online commentary. First, in April, The Coast demonstrated that the mere possibility of court action was enough for it to de-cloak its posters. Now, The Chronicle-Herald has shown us that its promise of anonymity depends on who you are. Apparently, the promise is worthless if the Herald thinks it can get a story out of identifying you. They'll even go to the trouble of hunting you down. So, anonymous poster, beware. The Herald has also exposed in a dramatic...

23 May, 2010

Martin MacKinnon writes: I am appalled by these NDP apologists — I do hope they're getting paid — on the  $42,000* press release. Regardless if some of the $42K should not have been included, it did include funding for things like buses and "marketing consultants." If this was a Rodney MacDonald Tory event, I am sure these people would have also pointed out that the $42K was overstated. These NDP'er's are double hypocrites. One because they are governing like Tories (John Buchanan should be proud) and because they told their party members they would govern...

23 May, 2010

Greg Beaulieu writes: I particularly enjoyed this piece, probably in part because I agree with your view on the topic at hand around MLAs' expenses and the like, and have been appalled (sorry Alexa) by some of the public reaction that was seen in places like the Herald's online comments section, where it is apparently OK to impugn the integrity of politicians and their staff, but not Herald reporters. The message you received from Mr. Whateverhisnameis sounds a lot like the comments one sees at the Herald and elsewhere...

22 May, 2010

A story by Judy Myrden in Friday's Chronicle-Herald falsely conflated the cost of producing the NDP Government's new Electricity Plan with the cost of a Pictou County media briefing and announcement of the plan. The effect was to overstate the cost of the news conference by four times. Called on the falsehood, the paper repeats it in today's lead story, also written by Myrden. Myrden then compounds this dishonesty by falsely accusing Premier Darrell Dexter's chief of staff, Dan O'Connor, of denying he had anonymously posted comments to the Herald's website pointing out the paper's misrepresentation. O'Connor told Contrarian Saturday morning that Myrden...

22 May, 2010

In response to this, someone called Peter Watts or perhaps Paul Buher, writes from a cryptic email account: You, sir, are a pig, and no different than Darrell Dexter. You hide under the guise of a political blog during the day, only to be writing for the NDP at night. A $15,000 pay cheque isn't too bad I suppose. Good for you. I have news for you. Anything you write on that virulent blog from this day forward is tainted with the stink of NDP orange, corruption, and self-serving interest. As I said, you sir, are a pig. I wonder how Mr. Whateverhisrealnameis...

21 May, 2010

A documentary film crew follows a group of daredevil commercial artists as they hand paint a 20x50 foot brick wall in NYC: Higher resolution here; Stop animation of the advert's creation here. Hat tip: Daily Dish....

20 May, 2010

Back on February 15, Contrarian had the temerity to opine that the MLAs' expense scandal was pretty small potatoes—more a matter of public begrudgery than actual wrongdoing. This evoked private expressions of appreciation and gratitude from MLAs and political aides of all parties—and howls of indignation from readers (here, here, and here). Events swiftly made my apologia seem naively over-generous. Two MLAs resigned, a third was kicked out of government caucus, and Premier Darrell Dexter, who built his career on his seemingly perfect ear for public sensibilities, turned suddenly, stubbornly, and uncharacteristically tone-deaf when his own personal expenses fell under scrutiny. Much...

12 May, 2010

An Ontario Divisional Court ruling has thrown the The Coast's craven cave-in to an HRM Fire Service lawsuit into sharp relief—along with an imprudent ruling by Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Heather Robertson. The Chief and Deputy Chief of the fire service asked Robertson to order The Coast to release identifying information about individuals who posted anonymous comments about alleged racism in the fire service on the newspaper's website. The officers said the comments, since removed, defamed them, and they needed the identities of the authors to pursue a suit for defamation. Having lured readers into posting anonymously, the Coast tossed them...

12 May, 2010

Nature by Numbers, a four-minute film by Spanish graphic artist Cristóbal Vila, explores the natural world's use of Fibonacci's number, the golden ratio, the golden angle, the Delaunay Triangulation, and Voronoi Tessellations. Very cool. If you know a math teacher, send her the link. View HD version here. Hat tip: FlowingData.com....

12 May, 2010

First Fivethirtyeight.com gets Canadian politics bassackwards, now the Daily Dish's Andrew Sullivan compounds the error: The Americanization of British politics continues. First the TV debates, now fixed parliamentary terms. If that's true, it means that the new government will not be a caretaker before another snap election, but a potential fusion of the Liberal and Tory brands over several years - perhaps the embryo of a whole new center-right party. It feels a little like Canada's Progressive Tories. [Emphasis added.] Canada's Progressive Tories? How is it possible for US* journalists to misperceive Canadian politics so utterly? The Conservative Party of Canada was...

11 May, 2010
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