On October 6, a dead Minke whale washed ashore on Martinique Beach. This followed close on the heels of the discovery of a dead fin whale in New Brunswick. In other countries, such a discovery would prompt authorities to conduct an investigation to determine, among other things, cause of death. A notification would be sent […]
Opinion
Posted inNews + Opinion
Obama’s no prize as peacemaker
He’s not known as Barack O’Bomber for nothing. Even as the bellicose US president snagged the Nobel Peace Prize last week, American military forces under his command were pounding Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. More than a million civilians have died and millions more have been forced to flee because of these senseless wars. Yet O’Bomber […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Coast cover a disappointment
I am writing in regards to the cover of the latest issue of The Coast (October 1, 2009). While I understand the financial pressures of running a print publication in this day and age, and the siren song of any extra advertising dollars that can be found, the cover of this week’s Coast was just too much. A wrap-around ad for beer (no matter how beloved by some) cheapens the newspaper that Haligonians have come to love. It is gauche, unnecessary and, furthermore, detracts from the one truly pure editorial space. I will be deeply saddened if this practice continues.—Jen
Posted inNews + Opinion
Downtown Halifax is TOO underdeveloped?
Save downtown Halifax! Send in the high rises! More Scotia Squares! More Aliant buildings! Lots more office towers—they add so much to the street life and block out those pesky bits of sidewalk where the sun still shines and the outdoor cafes flourish. And the wind tunnels they create…sublime. Away with Historic Properties (it’s OLD) […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Doing it right, finally
Graham Murphy’s cell phone is ringing.It’s inventory time at JA Snow Funeral Home and the number of caskets and urns isn’t adding up. “Sorry about that,” he says, hanging up with well-whaddya-gonna-do? expression. Murphy is the general manager at JA Snow, Halifax’s oldest undertaker, now owned by Alderwoods Group Canada, Canada’s second-largest funeral home operator. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Should Canadian forces stay in Afghanistan?
Is this war worth fighting? I don’t know too many people who—after spending real time outside the wire in Afghanistan—come back with more certainty in their answer to that question. Still, it’s what you get asked. Earlier this summer, I made a couple of trips to Kandahar, and at the end of the last one, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Foraging is great, but be careful of the sorrel!
I was pleased to read the article “City diner” by Lezlie Lowe (The Lowe Files, September 24), as foraging for edible plants has always been a part of my life since I was very young. I agree completely with everything that Jen Stotland had to say. I think more people should embrace this practice and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Graham’s crackers
Graham Steele, our new NDP finance minister is one fuck of a fine, funny fellow. I discovered that during the hours I spent last week at Province House poring over advance copies of his budget. Slipped in among the endless columns of tedious numbers, irksome charts and graphs and turgid bureaucratic prose, Steele’s subtle humour […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Police don’t support bike rally
I was at the Critical Mass bicycle rally last Friday when a police van interceded and picked two people to assign fines in the $100 range. The whole incident reeked of arbitrary and unneccesary use of power. One officer asked me if I would be angry if I were driving home and found 60 bicycles […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City diner
>Jen Stotland plucks a loose, lovely light purple petal from a bed in the Public Gardens. “Mallow,” she says, placing it quickly in my open palm. Eat it? Yup. The whole thing? Just pop it in your mouth. You can eat the leaf too. I do. “It’s a little bit slimy,” she says. “It’s really […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Secrecy, detailed
Former Halifax councillor Harry McInroy was arguably one of the worst councillors in the history of HRM—his repeated meeting absences became something of a running joke, and when he did bother to appear, he was ill-prepared and mumbled inane comments. His Cole Harbour constituency no doubt sighed in relief when McInroy, who opted not to […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Don’t deny sexuality
I must respond to Jean Macle’s letter “Bill Forbes’ obit humiliating” (Letters, September 17). I hope that even though Ms. Macle is only an occasional Coast reader, one of her friends will bring it to her attention. The fact that Bill Forbes (“Farwell to Forbes” by Alison Lang, July 30) was gay is not an […]