The head of Pete Seeger's 5-string banjo famously carried the inscription, "This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender." I thought of Pete yesterday when I saw the way two three young activist women responded the Ontario men who've been displaying gruesome (and possibly faked) images of aborted foetuses along heavily trafficked commuter routes in HRM. The pro-choice women could have lashed out in anger. No doubt they were angry. But instead they chose to respond with a message of love—and of reassurance for women who face tough choices about sexual and reproductive health, and who may have felt frightened or intimidated by the anti-abortionists'...

13 August, 2014

On the last day of July, I called out Communications Nova Scotia for not abandoning a patronizing, politically tainted, Harperesque style of news release that, I asserted, had been imposed by Premier Darrell Dexter's office as it tightened the political reins on government communications. (I made a similar argument in a pre-election post last fall.) Readers who once held senior positions at CNS took issue with my analysis. Jim Vibert, longtime head of CNS who now runs his own communications consultancy, wrote in response to the first piece: [Y]our CNS reference is, on the surface, correct, but this sure isn’t the first government to...

12 August, 2014

A Lion's Mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) plied the waters of Conception Bay, near Bauline NL, last week. Photo: Emilie Novaczek....

12 August, 2014

A great friend who moved from rural Cape Breton to Fredericton a few years ago has been trying ever since to convince me her move wasn't the cultural equivalent of falling off a cliff. Now comes the improbably named Gracen Johnson with persuasive video evidence of Fredericton's coolness: Johnson explains: I'm 24 years old and just finished my Master's in urban planning. This year, I'm moving against the grain of conventional wisdom for young grads. Instead of chasing a big job in a big city, I'll be moving across the country to a small city that actually has a reputation for joblessness. Smaller cities interest...

11 August, 2014

The YouTube notes say, "Filmed in the '70's, not far from Fogarty's Cove, Guysborough County." It has the look of a CBC or NFB production. If anyone knows who filmed it or where it aired, reach for the comment link above. The musicians are the late Stan Rogers, guitar; Garnet Rogers, fiddle; and Dave Eadie, electric bass. [UPDATE] Clever detective work by an anonymous Contrarian reader traces the source of this recording to an episode of the CBC TC Variety series, "Canadian Express." The series ran from September, 1977, to September, 1980, and featured moveable venues and changeable hosts. An episode hosted by...

09 August, 2014

Paris photographer Laure Fauvel captures young people as they vanquish the monsters that lurk in closets and under beds: We should all have such courage....

09 August, 2014

Retired CBC producer Peter Kavanagh calls out Halijourno Tim Bousquet's response to my critique of Dal professor Tom Duck's op ed piece in the Halifax Examiner [now liberated from behind a paywall], in which Duck defended disruptive behaviour at the Fracking Review Panel's public meetings by young opponents of the controversial technology. "People use the resources they have available to them," [Bousquet wrote]. I think that is a cop out justification for the mental shades/blinders people can wear. If you want to stop a wrong, do so based on real science. You don't get to adopt the same approach to science that your...

07 August, 2014

Contrarian reader, journalist, playwright, and communications smart guy Ryan Van Horne thinks the lack of civil discourse by some youthful fracking opponents is only half the problem: I do get a kick out of the notion that oil companies are getting bullied by young kids; it sort of has that man bites dog kinda feel to it. The trouble with this is that bullies are often wrong or can't back up their position with facts. I am all for civil debate on this issue and more science to explore the risks—and verify the safety—of hydraulic fracturing. Let's have an open and balanced discussion though,...

07 August, 2014

The folk music-comedy duo  Garfunkle and Oates, whose charming and funny singing videos you may have seen on YouTube, launch a comedy TV series tonight, and IFC has put a sneak preview on line. Here's what happens when you try to watch it from Canada: And here's what happens after you install a free unblocker extension on your Internet browser: I haven't owned a working TV for almost 10 years. I stream lots of television on my external monitor, my iPhone, and when it's working, my Android tablet. I have no intention of policing myself to protect some middleman corporation that wants to extract unearned value while passing through someone else's creation—and offering crappy service...

06 August, 2014
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