Contrarian reader Denis Falvey writes: A decision that flies in the face of one fact of science does not necessarily constitute ignorance. A bounty may not eradicate coyotes, it may not even lower their numbers appreciably, but it will change their habits. Coyotes live in an ecological niche; like any other animal, they will multiply to fill that niche. I would prefer that the limits on their ecological niche not include my doorstep, and the only way to achieve that is for the animals to be wary of coming near my doorstep. That's not going to happen with my singing Kumbayah'....

25 April, 2010

When Fordham Rams pinch hitter Brian Kownacki rounded third and headed for home on Chris Walker's eighth inning double last Wednesday, Iona Gaels catcher James Beck was waiting at the plate with the ball. Kownacki looked like a dead dunk, until...

24 April, 2010

Experts say a bounty won’t lessen human encounters with aggressive coyotes, and might make matters worse. They base this conclusion, in part, on experience in Nova Scotia, where a $50 bounty in the 1980s failed to reduce coyote numbers. They say it on the Department of Natural Resources website—or they used to, until inconvenient scientific information was expunged just in time for Minister John MacDonell's flight from evidence-based decision making. [caption id="attachment_5079" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="John MacDonell "][/caption] The Winston Smiths assigned to expunge the historical record missed a few spots. They failed to delete wildlife director Barry Sabean's 1989 and 1991 declarations...

23 April, 2010

When you bring $145 million a year into the treasury of a province as deeply in hock as Nova Scotia, you swing a big bat. So when a consultant hired by the banished Tory government delivered a cost-benefit analysis of gambling in Nova Scotia to the newly elected NDP government, it stands to reason that the big bat wielders at the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation*, the agency that administers the provincial government's addiction to gambling revenue, had first dibs on reviewing it. [caption id="attachment_5075" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Marilyn More"][/caption] Whatever the report said about the human toll exacted by provincially sponsored gambling, we...

23 April, 2010

As Wendy Southgate of Elmswell, Suffolk, UK, took her dog, Trixie, for a stroll around the neighborhood one morning last spring, she noticed an odd looking car cruising slowly along the street. She wondered vaguely what it was up to. Then last week, Wendy's husband Terry, a firefighter, decided to look for their Cross St. house on the British version of Google Street View, and there were Wendy and Trixie. He looked a little further down the street, and there they were again. He checked a nearby street, and found them again. And again. Finally, Terry followed Wendy's customary dog-walking route—and...

22 April, 2010

How does a government that takes human rights obligations seriously handle warnings of detainee abuse? It would be too easy to ignore these warning signs, only to find that detainees previously held by UK have been mistreated while in Afg hands. The fallout of that, as we have seen from Canada’s experience, would, at best, be unwelcome. Read on: Source. Hat tip: Cheryl Cook via @DougSaunders...

21 April, 2010

Danish design student Julian Hansen offers an infographic to guide us through an increasingly common task: choosing just the right typeface. Click the image to bring up an enlargeable version....

21 April, 2010

Three national reporters for CBC Radio News carried out the devastating survey posted here last night, a source tells Contrarian. Veteran reporters Vic Adhopia of St. John's, Dave Seglins of Toronto, and Greg Rasmussen of Vancouver conducted the survey in March after months of grousing by colleagues about the operation of The Hub, the Toronto unit that co-ordinates all assignments for radio and TV news reporters. They submitted the survey to CBC brass, who responded in a conference call with all national reporters two weeks ago. News head Jonathan Whitten led the management team on the call, which one...

21 April, 2010

A survey of 24 CBC Radio national news reporters shows dismal morale and widespread dismay over organizational changes that funnel all radio and TV news assignments through a single "hub" in Toronto. A couple of nuggets: If anything, the individual reporters' comments are even more devastating: Read the full report below: ...

21 April, 2010
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