What exactly happened between Percy Paris and Keith Colwell outside the MLAs' washroom in Province House last Thursday night? Was it a "scuffle" (CBC, Global), an "alleged scuffle" (Metro, Globe and Mail), an "altercation" (Chronicle-Herald), an "incident" (CTV, Yarmouth Vanguard), a "bizarre incident" (CBC), a "fight" (Yahoo), a "kerfuffle" (also Yahoo), or even a "brawl" (SunNews). "Brawl" seems way over the top, and to my ear, a term tinged with racism in this context. "Scuffle" and "altercation" seem about right. "I guess there would be some physical contact," said Inverness Conservative MLA Allan MacMaster, the one uninvolved eye-witness who has spoken...

11 May, 2013

Last week, I posted a photo of Contrarian's home turf that Chris Hadfield, 35th Commander of the International Space Station, had taken from 370 kilometres overhead. An avid photographer, Hadfield has produced scores of images depicting locations all over the earth, including at least 10 of Nova Scotia sites.* You may already know what I managed to miss: that geographer David MacLean and his students at the College of Geographic Sciences in Lawrencetown, NS, have created a database of Hadfield's images (and some by fellow astronaut Thomas H. Marshburn) that you can access through a wonderful, interactive map. MacLean has been kind enough to let...

07 April, 2013

Herald columnist Jim Meek takes a shot at CBC reporter Susan Ormiston: In one story, the viewer was treated to moving pictures of CBC-TV reporter Susan Ormiston, who held the hand of a small Haitian child as they walked through a devastated, crowded neighbourhood. Ms. Ormiston later collected the tired child into her own tender arms, and on they marched. The made-for-TV pictures provided proof of Ms. Ormiston’s compassion, and I did wonder for a moment if the reporter or the youngster’s family was the intended focus of the story. I didn't see the piece in question, and I winced to see Ormiston...

24 January, 2010