Colour bind
To the editor, It is made amply clear by the last two Coast cover stories (“Inside the Square,” March 1 and “Harbour Solutions stinks,” March 8) that racism is a prominent issue here in Halifax. My question is why do white people and black people here hate each other so much? Why aren’t East Indians,…
Heart smart
To the editor, Nova Scotians have heart. On behalf of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia, I would like to thank the thousands of Nova Scotians who braved the frosty February weather to support the foundation’s fundraising efforts. Whether you were volunteering as a Heart Month canvasser, organizing a Dress Red event or…
Got game?
To the editor, The decision to pull out of the poker game called “the Commonwealth Games Bid” was the right one. Now, what to do with all that money being tossed about like confetti? Well, may I suggest that now the money is not being spent on one special group of people called athletes, that…
This is your brain, on
To the editor, Like some other “inconvienient truths” out there, the “war on drugs” has been a dismal failure. As Bruce Wark’s editorial stated, increased spending and tougher sentences have not reduced drug use. In fact, it is increasing. The results of this “war” include increasingly vicious criminal gang activity, broken families and communities and…
This is your brain, on
To the editor, Regarding Bruce Wark’s thoughtful column “High security” (March 1): According to the US Centres for Disease Control, the number of unintentional prescription drug overdose deaths in the US increased from 12,186 in 1999 to 20,950 in 2004. By 2004, overdose was second only to motor-vehicle crashes as a cause of death. The…
Stink alert
To the editor, I just read your article “Harbour Solutions stinks” (by Tim Bousquet, March 8). I live on Village Road in Herring Cove —it’s a tiny, winding country road, not the subdivision that people might think of. The people in this area are not all white middle-class residents. There are lots of widows and…
No such thing as a free lunch
To the editor, We are compelled to respond to a comment made in Stephen Kimber’s “Inside the Square” cover story, referring to United Way’s decision to stop funding the hot lunch program at Cornwallis Street Church (March 1). All funding decisions are made with serious diligence involving a volunteer group of community members and knowledgeable…
Halifax’s identity crisis on The Current
CBC radio’s excellent show The Current devoted a major section to Halifax this morning. Considering the city’s Commonwealth Games snub and resistance to the Twisted Towers, host Anna Maria Tremonti wondered if Halifax is going through an “identity crisis.” She convened a panel of Haligonians (councillor Sheila Fougere, former Heritage Trust president Alan Parish and…
Where are these so-called immigrants?
The front page of today’s hard-copy Herald is devoted to the new census numbers that came out yesterday. Coverage is skewed towards the standard Nova Scotia brain drain story. (“An exodus of people searching for work is a major reason why Nova Scotia is lagging behind the rest of Canada in population growth, the 2006…
Come to your census
Statistics Canada has started releasing information gathered in last year’s census, and the population changes show the big trend from the 2001 count continues: People are moving to the city from the country. Across the nation, “four out of five people living in urban centres” says the Globe and Mail here. In a story much…
Save Lord Black…
I usually don’t read Frank out of some kind of karma thing, but this cracks me up. Editor Michael Bate created this faux “Support Lord Black” website, which totally faked out the Globe and Mail, New York magazine, National Post, Toronto Star and Canadian Business. Even better–according to Canadian Magazines blog, Bate, AKA Alastair Smith,…
We’re all dirty cops!
Dartmouth filmmaker Jason Eisener, along with mates Johnathan Davies and Rob Cotterill, has won the Grindhouse trailer contest with their entry Hobo with a Shotgun. The locally shot clip was personally chosen by Robert Rodriguez out of thousands for a contest sponsored by South by Southwest. Congrats dudes! Watch it on Eisener’s MySpace.
Letters to the Editor
Some people say you can’t fight city hall or buck the boss. In a democracy, this isn’t true. You can & this is what unions were initially meant to be for. Nowadays, it’s all about the all mighty dollar and workers who are unionized have become lazy, abusive with their so call union rights and…
The summer of wuss rock
Last week I was emailing with my friend Jill Barber who was on the road with Stuart McLean and Dan Hill for The Vinyl Cafe tour, which played four sold-out shows in Halifax. I told her that when I was a pre-teen in the country with no access to the things that make you become…
Quit your bitching
More evidence that Helsinki is THE coolest city in the world, may I introduce the Helsinki Complaints Choir. The choir collected complaints from the general public–about annoying ringtones, people who smell on public transit, trees being cut into toilet paper rolls, etc.–and turned them into beautiful choir music, releasing the stuff that really pisses people…
Letters to the Editor
To The Coast, The decision to pull out of the poker game called “The Commonwelath Games Bid” was the right one.Now, what to do with all that money being tossed about like confetti? Well, may I suggest that now the money is not being spent on ONE special group of people called athletes,that it be…
Letters to the Editor
Just a follow up to this letter I sent…After sending emails to the CEO of Capital Health and nobody is willing to address the issue of being bullied within Capital Health…I find out today that they are also keeping my last 2 weeks pay. So I worked for free for 2 weeks, while being bullied…
The beat goes on
When Sam the Record Man on Barrington closed two weeks ago, downtown Halifax music collectors had reason to be dismayed. Good news comes from Taz Record Store: the store, which moved to Gottingen Street two and a half years ago, will be moving back downtown, with an expected opening date of April 1. The new…
No Games for us…
The province and the city have withdrawn their support for the 2014 Commonwealth Games bid, effectively putting a kibosh on the Games. And now, from the release… “The two levels of government reached their decision based on the outcomes of the independent reviews which were conducted on the operating and capital budgets submitted to the…
Film fest follies
Faithful readers know that the Atlantic Film Festival is one of our favourite annual cultural events, as is its summer waterfront spectacular alFresco filmFesto , despite our hate of being outdoors in summer. But we spend the long months in between renting box sets and paying for shit like Catch and Release while thinking wistfully…
Unruly Brood
Like an outlawed Deadwood hero, Elliott Brood saunters into The Grawood this Wednesday night. Sure, the stagecoach is replaced by a new band van, and there are more banjos wailing than cussin’, but the Toronto death-country trio will leave a film of kicked-up dust on your teeth. According to the band’s mythology, Mr. Brood bit…
Playing the field
Regional council has approved a plan that opens the door for more large-scale concerts on the Halifax Common—up to two shows a year for the foreseeable future—beginning this summer. The 18-page recommendation describes last September’s Rolling Stones concert as “undoubtedly a great success”—but also admits “the process leading up to the actual event cannot be…
Election section
To the editor, In a year and a half, Nova Scotians will vote for their municipal representatives. The October 18, 2008 municipal election falls on Persons Day, which commemorates the 1929 declaration that women are “persons under the law,” qualified to be appointed to the Senate. The coincidence is timely. Nova Scotia needs more women…
Sparking spots
To the editor, It’s good to see the city councillors have finally come to their senses and voted to stop parking in the Grand Parade (“Reality Bites,” by Mike Fleury, March 1). Judging from all the media attention over the past few years and all the passionate debates at city hall, one would think that…
Outside the Square
To the editor, Regarding “Inside the Square” by Stephen Kimber, March 1: Mr. Kimber’s double standard around stereotypes belies a sensationalist’s thirst for blood. En route to tearing away the preconceptions dogging the north end and Uniacke Square he invokes preconceptions used to reinforce the south end in the role of enemy. He needs to know that the…
Artist’s block
Topping the poster advertising the Khyber Building’s community brainstorming sessions, led by the Khyber Arts Society and HRM last week, is a quote from urban philosopher Jane Jacobs, “Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.” After Saturday’s session, when around 20 people, mostly representing arts and social justice organizations,…
Rock and URL
You’re a rock star. Well, you could be, anyway, if you’d just find the time to launch that blog you’ve been talking about. Bloggers, the blahtastically dubbed purveyors of online diaries, are the new rock stars, according to the hype for PostieCon ’07, a blogger conference coming up in June in Orlando, Florida www.postiecon.com Go…
Harbour Solutions stinks
There have been other ideas for dealing with the raw sewage flowing into the harbour—diverting it to Dartmouth’s lakes, for example, or the 1988 plan to burn it on McNabs Island and thus cover the city in a toxic mercury smog. Compared to those, Harbour Solutions is a forward-thinking work of genius. But only compared…
Foxy boxty
It’s hard to believe another restaurant actually sat here, where the Celtic Corner is—it looks and feels as though it’s been here forever. It’s a welcoming environment in which we feel instantly comfortable, as do a lot of other people, judging from the large Tuesday night crowd. In the back of the room are several…
Hearts afire
Moncton’s group of disobedient misfits Rock’n Rebels roll into town this week for a gig with local revolutionary rockers War Pony and The Stolen Minks. The stellar rebellious line-up is forming to celebrate Rock’n Rebels’ third release Nocturnal Hearts, with a boozy, late night of punkabilly at The Speakeasy on March 10. “We describe our…
Fire in the North End
Tragic photos, submitted by our readers.
Body break
The obesity epidemic is one powerful bit of news media shorthand. Use it in relation to young people and its potency intensifies. Premiering on CBC TV tonight at 8pm, Teresa MacInnes’ film Generation XXL challenges the knee-jerks. She follows four participants from a group of 12 who participated in the Fit Intervention Program last March.…
Zodiac
David Fincher sets the bar high at the beginning of Zodiac. His sepia-tinted colour photography (shot in high definition) carries an idealized view of America. Idyllic images of suburbia and fireworks for the Fourth of July are followed by a trip to a burger joint and a young couple driving into the country to “park.”…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Get to know your personal lighthouse, Sag, says Rob Brezsny.
SAVAGE LOVE
Dan Savage writes on his ass with a Sharpie.
Driven to madness
On the last Tuesday in February, city council set Grand Parade free. Downtown’s main public space shall be a parking lot no longer—sometime between now and September 1 cars will be banished, with councillor parking relegated to the Truscan lot, a short stone’s throw away. The decision seems the most natural thing in the world.…
