Innkeeping In terms of sheer words per minute, I think Episode 11 of Annette Verschuren’s Bet On Me podcast — “The Power of Place: The connection between culture and economy with Zita Cobb, Innkeeper of Fogo Island Inn” — has to be the winner. Because man, can Zita Cobb talk.Read More

Having watched CBRM council discuss a proposed district energy project for Downtown Sydney last night, I would say regular readers of the Spectator know more about this project than councilors do. I’ve been following it, as best I can, since it first appeared on my radar in January 2020 —Read More

In late August The New Yorker featured a fascinating, slightly awestruck examination of “the Costa Rica Model” of “health care that understands its community,” by American surgeon and professor of public health Atul Gawande. Gawande, nominated by President Biden to serve as assistant administrator of the US Aid and DevelopmentRead More

Editor’s Note: We’ve been reaching back into Michelle Smith’s archive for gardening tips and this week, we found a good one about what to do when you’ve downed tools for the winter. (This column first appeared in November 2019).   What to do this week It’s time to hang upRead More

Green Hydrogen Remember when I took you on that guided tour of the new Novaporte website? (Honestly, I don’t blame you if you’ve suppressed the memory.) We spent some time pondering the claim that the adjacent Novazone logistics park will be a “green energy hub” with “planned hydrogen facilities” thatRead More

Munger Games Everywhere I look these days I see vanity projects — from billionaires propelling themselves into almost-space to local businesswomen producing 13-episode podcasts — but the story of Warren Buffet’s partner designing a dorm for the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) takes the proverbial vanity cake. AccordingRead More

Editor’s Note: This week, I’m focusing on the concerns that have been raised in Saint Lucia over Ben Cowan-Dewar’s latest golf development, Cabot Saint Lucia. First up: beach access.     Finola Jennings Clark says when she first heard that Cabot, the golf resort company founded by Torontonian Ben Cowan-DewarRead More

Editor’s note: This week, I’m focusing on the concerns that have been raised in Saint Lucia over Ben Cowan-Dewar’s golf resort, Cabot Saint Lucia. In this installment: water, archaeological and sustainability issues.   “Where open sea and land collide is where golf exists in its purest form,” is a BillRead More

Last October, in anticipation of a change of presidential administration in the United States, I interviewed Matt Korda of the Federation of American Scientists on the prospects for a progressive reformation of American foreign and defense policy . Korda expressed what I would characterize as ‘qualified pessimism’ about the potentialRead More

A district energy system proposed for Downtown Sydney has undergone a significant metamorphosis since the last time it was on my radar, in January 2020. This scheme — one of a number of initiatives arising from a partnership between CBRM and Efficiency Nova Scotia that dates to 2015 — hasRead More