'Tis the season for incessant, overwrought weather "advisories," "statements," "alerts," and "warnings" from Environment Canada; exaggerated accounts thereof from broadcast media (especially the CBC); and dire exhortations from the RCMP to stay home, preferably in bed with the covers drawn up, until winter passes and it is safe once again to get behind the wheel. Except that December, January, February, and March are four of the five safest months to drive in Nova Scotia. April is the other. The truly dangerous months are June, July, August, and September. Here's a record of highway fatalities, by month, for the last five years in Nova...

28 December, 2015

Contrarian's youngest grandchild set out milk and treats for Santa tonight, together with carrots for his coursers. Then Contrarian's new kitten happened on the scene [video link]: Maybe that's why the old guy is forever laying a finger aside of his nose....

25 December, 2015

Coral Rafuse works at the Children’s Centre, a day care centre on Commercial Street in New Minas, NS. Until this fall, she had never set foot in the Flower Cart, a vocational service centre for men and women with intellectual disabilities located just across the street. But few weeks ago, Rafuse popped in to pay a bill on behalf of a co-worker. As she waited to be served, her gaze fell on a gallery of staff photos, one of which jolted her to attention. The image bore a startling resemblance to Rafuse’s recently widowed mother, a resident of nearby Greenwood. It had never...

25 December, 2015

Holy smokes! This was the scene yesterday morning at the Nova Scotia Refugee Donation Centre, in the former Rona store at 350 Horseshoe Drive, Bayer's Lake Industrial Park, Halifax. Photo courtesy of Scott Gillard, who writes, "The scale of the space and visible volume of generosity is unbelievable." The centre's hours of operation are posted here, more information here. Nova Scotians outside Halifax who wish to donate should call 211 (toll-free with NS) or email help @ ns .211.ca. They will log your call and pass your information on to service providers in your area....

23 December, 2015

Displaying a conspicuous lack of self-awareness, National Post columnist (and Walrus Magazine editor) Jonathan Kay tweeted a photo of the National Post's Opinion Page Christmas party: These are the men and woman who mould a major Canadian newspaper's editorial opinions in 2015. There's the great (truly!) Robert Fulford on the extreme right; Conrad Black, ironically, on the extreme left; Terrance Corcoran and Andrew Coyne holding down the centre (uncomfortably so, one presumes, in Corcoran's case). One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn't belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the others By the time I finish...

23 December, 2015

In her regular Saturday slot at The Halifax Examiner, the writer, poet, activist, and prisoners' advocate El Jones has a moving account of what it's like to be in prison over Christmas—for inmates themselves and for their families on the outside. Do not miss this. El begins by writing about the problem of writing about people who may face retaliation for complaints she might voice on their behalf: Talking about these stories is so difficult and telling them in detail — the kind of detail people often need to believe they are true — places the people already being punished at so much risk. Even writing this...

19 December, 2015

One hundred years from now, descendants who know only driverless vehicles will scratch their heads in wonder at this curious cultural artifact. On the Cabot Trail just north of the Englishtown Ferry, a dash cam recorded this weirdly captivating encounter between a Mountie with attitude and sloppy cube van driver with same: Jersey Cove isn't Chicago, or even Toronto, and Shawn isn't black or Syrian, so instead of 16 bullets, the encounter netted him $787.42 in fines. The comments are almost as rich as the video. Shitty driver with Napoleon complex versus douche bag cop in his second trimester. Who's gonna win? My money is on the house. My...

17 December, 2015

Allison Sparling,* the young Halifax activist who (with Evey Hornbeck and Katherine Taylor) deliciously put the boots to a repulsive crew of travelling anti-abortion protesters from Upper Canada, is herself moving to Upper Canada. In a blog post, she offers a personal check-list of things Halifax should fix to retain youth: Transit. Every other bus trip makes you feel like you would be better sawing off an arm with a spoon. The transit system here is so bad for a city of it’s size it almost feels like an insult. Recently, my partner and I decided to try to buy a tablet as a...

16 December, 2015

Taken Friday night by Dr.Drone, a Dartmouth-based drone sales and repair firm with a very cool Instagram feed. Sparkling in the left foreground are Halifax's excellent new roundabouts,* with Cogswell St. along the bottom of the photo. Bedford Basin is at the top of the frame, with the two harbour bridges, the shipyard, and the Northwood Centre prominent along the right side. [UPDATE] Contrarian reader Jonah Sabean points out the striking contrast between streets lit with halogen bulbs (orange) and those lit with LEDs (bluish white). As a matter of economic development policy and energy conservation, the LEDs, manufactured by a heavily...

13 December, 2015

A spectacularly profane passerby captured vivid video of the suspicious fire that destroyed a building under construction on Maitland Street, Halifax, early Monday morning. This footage captures the first moments of the fire. The sound of approaching sirens doesn't come until nearly two minutes in. At 2:20 the fire appears to go through what firefighters call "flashover," and at 2:40, the first truck appears (at least as seen from the phone-toting videographer's vantage). When Halifax Fire division commander Brad Connors said the three-storey building was "fully involved" when his crews arrived, he wasn't kidding. It's a sobering reminder of how little time you have to get to safety in...

09 December, 2015
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