I expect Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination. With somewhat less confidence, I expect her to win a decisive victory over Donald Trump or Ted Cruz in November. Recently, a friend who heard me express this view urged me to look at where Bernie Sanders stood in the polls stood one year ago. The chart above shows the startling results. It uses a monthly average of the national Democratic polling numbers aggregated at RealClearPolitics.com.* One year ago, Sanders stood at six percent of Democratic voters to Clinton's 64 percent—a staggering 58-point gap. He's now at 42 percent to Clinton's 52 percent—a ten-point gap that continues to narrow. The Liberal...

02 April, 2016

Angus Brian MacDonald of Glace Bay died last week, leaving his wife Brenda, two sons, one daughter, six grandchildren, and the following obituary: So, the world doesn't have Angus MacDonald to kick around anymore. I'm gone! The devil finally called my name. The grim reaper came for me on Friday March 25, 2016. I bought the farm. I bit the dust. So I guess I'm off to the promised land eh? The promised land! Imagine! Anyway, I was born at St. Joseph's Hospital in Glace Bay on Nov. 26, 1948. Of 13 children in the family, I was the sixth born. I was...

31 March, 2016

The cover of the current issue of the Montague, PEI, Eastern Graphic, a storied Canadian weekly that really knows how to service its community: Nice!...

22 March, 2016

Here's a random selection of artifacts Parks Canada archaeologist Charles Burke found last summer near the site of the former East Lighthouse on Sable Island. Burke was conducting a baseline survey of archaeological resources to guide preservation and future investigation of artifacts on the newly created Sable Island National Park. Burke will present the results of his survey in a slide show at 7:30 pm, Tuesday, in Burke Theatre A, Saint Mary's University. [The meeting may be moved to accommodate the large crowd expected. I'll update this post if that happens. Nope. The meeting will take place in Burke Theatre A, capacity 160. Come early...

21 March, 2016

As a storm swept through the South Shore Saturday Friday afternoon, Peter Barss headed out to photograph the ominous clouds. It snowed. It rained. It changed back to snow, then pea-sized hail. At Port Medway, the threatening clouds parted briefly, and warm sunlight briefly bathed the shore. Thunder and lightening followed until, just as Peter started packing up his gear, a rainbow appeared. Here's his lyrical description: No dolphins frolicked joyfully in the waves, angels didn't sing to me, no godly voice told me the rainbow was a sign of hope. In fact, the rainbow didn't even mark the end of the storm. I drove home under black...

20 March, 2016

I wrote, as many have written and said before me, "The worst thing about living in Cape Breton, even worse than getting through April, is watching so many young people leave home, knowing most will only return for fleeting visits." Warren Reed disagrees: The best thing about living in Cape Breton, even better than finally getting through April, is watching so many young people leave home to make successes of themselves. We are a small place overflowing with smart and ambitious youth, more than we deserve or can possibly use.  It seems that our best export continues to be talent.  In boardrooms across Canada, in...

20 March, 2016

The worst thing about living in Cape Breton, even worse than getting through April, is watching so many young people leave home, knowing most will only return for fleeting visits. I'm way beyond grateful to have both my sons, and all my grandchildren, close at hand. Among the missing is Hannah MacDonald, a bright, cheerful Caper from Mira who managed education and outreach for ACAP Cape Breton before decamping for Alberta four years ago. She's now in Budapest, Hungary, awaiting a visa that will let her resume work as an environmental project manager. I keep track of Hannah through Seeking a Simple Story, a blog she writes about her life...

19 March, 2016

Here's another follow-up to my post criticizing Halifax journalist Tim Bousquet's sexist personal attack on Laurie Graham, the Cape Breton-raised former journalist who will receive $160,000 a year as principal secretary to Premier Stephen McNeil. Previous instalments here and here. Every government—every government—has a handful of jobs that are political in nature. These are never—never—advertised or filled through open competitions. Contrarian reader Doug Keefe, a former Nova Scotia Deputy Attorney General, explains why: It's fair to argue about the salary but wrong to cry foul over this appointment. [The principal secretary] is not and never has been a civil service position, so no need...

19 March, 2016

On the CBC website, Graham Steele criticized as excessive the salary Laurie Graham will receive as principal secretary to Premier Stephen McNeil ($160,000). He pointed out that cabinet ministers make less ($138,281.41). In the Halifax Examiner, Tim Bousquet used Steele's critique to launch a scathing personal attack on Graham. His objection was brazenly sexist: Graham shouldn't get the job because she is married to Acadian University president Ray Ivany, a man Bousquet detests; Graham doesn't deserve a big salary because Ivany already makes plenty of money. Portraying politicians and their staff as greedy evil-doers rouses the rabble but poisons the body politic. It's Bousquet's ever-luffing mainsail, but the attack on Graham...

19 March, 2016

Our Saturday bird guy, Joshua Barss Donham, caught a pair of American Bald Eagles in flagrante delicto on the barachois at Big Pond last Tuesday: [video link] Here are the same two, moments before their sandbar tryst: This marks the second time Joshua has observed Bald Eagles getting it on this winter. The first time was at a beach near Cow Bay. Here's that pair, making its impressive nest ready for occupancy: ...

18 March, 2016
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