Shots! I’m betting when you read that you knew I was talking about COVID vaccine and not tequila. That is a sad but I hope not enduring effect of the ongoing pandemic. I got my first AstraZeneca shot on Monday. On Tuesday, I had a sore arm and fatigue seriousRead...

Ever since reading Linda McQuaig on Connaught Labs — the “public” lab that McQuaig argues, convincingly, could have helped Canada fight the COVID-19 pandemic had it not been privatized by the Mulroney government in the ’80s — I’ve been thinking about the value of publicly owned businesses and looking atRead More

There’s a wonderful pair of linked episodes in Star Trek: The Next Generation which, together, raise some deep and interesting philosophical questions with deep ethical implications. Both episodes take place within the confined space of the holodeck (a place in which the computer simulations are so real that crew membersRead...

It took public pressure to get the Lahey Report (“An Independent Review of Forest Practices in Nova Scotia“) off the ground but once completed, it contained summaries like this one: My conclusion is that ecological forestry must be pursued on Crown and private lands with a combination of tools thatRead...

Editor’s Note: We’re dipping into Michelle Smith’s archives to provide timely tips for gardeners.   What to do this week It may seem sometimes like the gardener’s answer to everything is compost. Got sandy, light soil? Add compost to help absorb water and slow the leaching of nutrients. Your soilRead More

Editor’s Note: I had to make a trip to the Annapolis Valley on short notice yesterday and thought I’d simply be able to post Fast & Curious — which I’d written on Thursday — from the road. But time and circumstance worked against me, which is why you are seeingRead More

Enquête, Radio-Canada’s investigative news show — think, Fifth Estate in French — on Friday dedicated part of its last episode of the season to a story involving a familiar face: It seems “Montreal businessman” Albert Barbusci, in addition to working tirelessly to promote the Port of Sydney (and his FloridaRead More

I’ve been meaning to discuss District 1 Councilor Gordon MacDonald’s attempt to get CBRM council to pass a motion in support of paid sick days since he first made it at the February 23 council meeting but I haven’t been able to do the necessary research until this week. MacDonaldRead More

Wen Mr Clevver wuz Big Man…they had evere thing clevver. — Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker    Last month, I explored the potential political impact of a newly-commissioned study by the American National Academies of Sciences on the environmental effects of nuclear war. This month, I turn to a recently-concluded study intoRead More

Editor’s Note: We’re dipping into Michelle Smith’s archives to provide timely tips for gardeners.   What to do this week This week, we continue with the soil nutrients I introduced last week. We are left with N, P and K. I would like to give you an idea of whatRead More