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Columnist - Al Hollingsworth
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Friday, 16 January 2009 |
About now, at this point in his political career, Rodney MacDonald is probably asking. “Why is everybody always picking on me?” - a line from “Charlie Brown,” the 1959 hit by The Coasters. The catchy tune also has the line, “Who called the English teacher daddy-o?”
We could amend that to “Who called the gym teacher daddy-o?” I stray.
The answer to the question, “Why is everybody always picking on me?” is quite simple; he keeps making himself a target.
For weeks we have been hearing about how investing in infrastructure renewal will help kick start an economic recovery. Pour billions of dollars into “shovel ready” projects and get Canadians working. I think Michael Ignatieff might have coined the “shovel ready” catch phrase. Or was it ultra-conservative John Baird? It matters not who first uttered it, it makes sense. |
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Columnist - Al Hollingsworth
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Saturday, 10 January 2009 |
I have always prided myself on the fact that while I may be dumb, I am not stupid. This thought came rushing back when I heard and read about the Tories gearing up for a spring election. Spring? Does that mean when the season changes or are that they going to spring it on us. Too late for the latter, they’ve tipped their hand.
Earlier this week our fiddle playing emperor, Rodney, not Nero, said when the budget comes down it will be balanced. Then a day or two later, he said the bringing down of the budget would be delayed. Michael Baker must have shown him the books.
The last thing he wants to is convene the legislature and have the truth come out. If Nova Scotia has a balanced budget in a deepening recession then Michael Baker, one of our most courageous citizens, should take over the World Bank. Or, at the very least President-elect Barack Obama should recruit him as his Secretary of the Treasury.
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Columnist - D.L. McCracken
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Written by D.L. McCracken
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Thursday, 08 January 2009 |
One and two-bedroom apartments for rent. Fridge/stove included - not necessarily in proper working order. Sporadic heat/hot water included. Close to schools and shopping. Safe community - we have a permanent paddy wagon patrol! Starting at $550. We offer several "little extras" including:
*Pharaoh ants
*Silverfish
*Bedbugs
*Rats & mice
*Broken window glass - provides a lovely breeze in summer!
*Sporadic heating & hot water - you have to get up early if you want that hot shower!
*Mold- don't worry, it's inside the walls - no visible unsightly stains!
*Open door policy -many unit entry doors are missing locks.
*Overflowing dumpster bins - perfect for bird watching! Seagulls and crows in abundance.
*Absent smoke detectors, sprinklers and fire extinguishers - no annoying & time-consuming battery changes!
*Non-working electrical outlets - usually one per unit is working - hey, we do what we can for the environment!
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Columnist - Al Hollingsworth
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Saturday, 03 January 2009 |
Sorry, Dinah Washington, not plagiarizing, but the words from your hit of 1959 came rushing back as I stared at the morning paper and the headline Premier gave staff raises. Washington’s album, entitled What a difference a day makes, which featured that great song, won her a Grammy and it also aptly describes the period between the first two publications of the Chronicle-Herald in 2009.
With no paper on New Year’s Day, their first publication of ’09 hit the streets on Friday and had a front page story entitled Money will be tight, premier warns public-sector unions. The story went on to highlight the Premier’s warning to unions that our difficult financial times will affect public-sector bargaining this year. Either the Premier doesn’t know what day (in this case, year) it is or he likes to get a head start on difficult chores. The contract with unionized civil servants doesn’t run out until 2010.
Maybe it is something in the resin. He is back fiddlin’ and breathing in the fine dust. |
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Columnist - Al Hollingsworth
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Saturday, 20 December 2008 |
I really do not enjoy taking a shot at Michael Baker. The man has enough on his plate. To say he is a courageous individual is to grossly understate the example he has set without ever referring to his illness.
However, his misdial last week where he contacting the wrong John MacDonnell opened another major can of worms for the MacDonald government, and cannot go unnoticed..
The thought of Ernie Fage going to the Senate is enough to make a thinking person barf. You remember Ernie? His favorite song is “Jesus Take The Wheel.”
Senator Fage? Little wonder the younger generation can’t be bothered to vote. And guess what folks, I am beginning to believe that is just what these folks at Province House and in the House of Commons want. Let apathy rule and they can get their way. |
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Columnist - Al Hollingsworth
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Saturday, 13 December 2008 |
I remember the first time I saw, and heard, Michael Ignatieff.. I had tuned in to watch some of the 2005 Liberal Policy Convention. Why, I am not sure. Must have been an off hockey night.
No, that is not quite true. My wife and I did not have the Centre Ice package at that point. It is just a matter of time before this package is presented into evidence in a divorce court. I can only hope I am not the defendant, but I am wandering off the topic.
The man I affectionately call “Eye Chart” wowed the convention that March night. He also got my attention. “There is a future leader of the Liberal Party,” I thought, as I sat spellbound by this incredible orator. At the time, the only drawback was that he was 58 years old; and the Grits had a firm grip on government, or so I thought. |
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Columnist - Al Hollingsworth
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Sunday, 07 December 2008 |
It was quite telling, watching Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrive for his meeting with the Governor-General, Michaëlle Jean. As his ever lengthening motorcade pulled up in front of Rideau Hall, I couldn’t help but think back to the day when Prime Minister Paul Martin made the same trip. Not for the same reason, but he travelled the same path, from 24 Sussex Drive to Rideau Hall.
The difference was that Martin, along with his wife Sheila, walked to the meeting.
Who is this guy Harper? I am beginning to get the feeling that the only way he will be removed from the PMO is by brute force. I am not a big fan of coalitions, in fact, what the three parties sitting opposite the government cooked up was scary. Yes, it was legal, but very frightening on examining all aspects of their proposal. |
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Columnist - Al Hollingsworth
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Thursday, 27 November 2008 |
The late Angus “Blue” MacDonald, the legendary councilor from Donkin, who once opined, “Byes, she’s not gonna be like the year 19 ought 10 when the RCMP walked in on horseback and we sat down and stood for it.”
A no nonsense guy, who shot from the hip and the lip.
Angus once rose to his feet at a Maritime Amateur Hockey Association Annual Meeting, having listened to a 10 minute rant by a rival Sydney sportsman, the late Fred Compton, and said, “Mr. Chairman, I rise on a ‘pint’ of order. ‘Yous’ is missing the ‘pint.’ the man’s nominating himself.”
The old battler from Donkin came to mind this week when I read the headline in the Chronicle-Herald, “Their Work Is Done.” It sat atop a photo of a giggling Premier responding to something Finance Minister Michael Baker was whispering in his ear. |
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Columnist - Al Hollingsworth
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Friday, 21 November 2008 |
It seems to me there is something very wrong with this picture. Judy Streatch, the Minister of Community Services, the provincial department charged with caring for the most needy of our citizens, spends precious tax dollars on high end coffee and Perrier Water.
Streatch, daughter of one-time cabinet minister Ken Streatch said her “stakeholders” deserve to be treated with respect. Yeah, right.
Let’s see, the recession hits home and I suffer a major setback. So much so I have to approach the Province for social assistance.
“Come on in, Mr. H., sit down, my deputy will pour you a Starbucks coffee,” “Her Nibbs” offers. “Or perhaps you would prefer a chilled Perrier with a twist of lemon on the side.”
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Columnist - Al Hollingsworth
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Saturday, 15 November 2008 |
I hardly expect to see the names of Ron Chisholm or Brooke Taylor on the membership roll at Mensa. And I would hardly expect to find them relegated to the “Stupid Row,” a designation old time teachers often used to inflict shame on struggling students.
What is Mensa, you ask? It is an organization founded in 1946, the largest, oldest, and most well known high IQ society in the world. A non-profit organization, it is open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardized, supervised intelligence test.
The key word is “intelligence” something that has not been on display lately at Province House during one of the House of Assembly’s rare sittings. Say what you will about John Buchanan’s governments, when they called the members to the House of Assembly, it was for two and three months at a stretch. It wasn’t a peek-a-boo affair.
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Columnist - Al Hollingsworth
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Saturday, 08 November 2008 |
As the countdown begins for the swearing in of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United Sates of America, the mainstream media will continue their assault on the departing George W. Bush. For when it comes to Dubya, it is a case of “no holds barred”, with little or no evidence of balance in the reporting and the opinion pieces.
Let’s face it, he’s an easy target. For example, according to Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, a total of 58 books have been written about George W, forty-seven of them classified as negative. Think Bush and four little letters come to mind - i-r-a-q.
Of the three books on the outgoing President that I have read, I would recommend Kitty Kelley’s The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty. The Bush family didn’t like it but I found it fairly balanced. Certainly informative.
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