To the middle-age female coming out of Dartmouth Crossing late morning on Jan 30th: Learn to read the "lane ends" signs at the bottom of Commodore Drive heading towards the 118. You were in the right lane - that lane ends with plenty of warning, 2 signs to be exact, the left lane is the "thru lane". I was in the left lane overtaking you when you decided that your lane was too narrow and started changing lanes without glancing left. So I laid on my horn to avoid an accident and you got all pissy. Yeah I flipped you off for good reason since your brain obviously can't grasp the skills needed to drive on the roadways safely. Get off the road before you kill someone.

And to the guys who decided to ignore yield sign on the circ by Main st.. yeah I called your place of employment after witnessing your road rage. The person who took my call was very interested in this incident and I will definitely follow up on it next week. Next time, don't act stupid on the road and drive directly to where your workplace has a big sign out front. —Tired of paying high ins. rates due to these fools

I have nothing against falcons. They have their place in the animal kingdom as birds of prey. Some might even describe them as majestic. But the human kind (no, I’m not talking about the football team), they are despicable. Any cowards who prey on the young, defenseless, and innocent have no place in our society. Why should my tax dollars be spent on feeding them while they contribute nothing but Sin? And since when is life synonymous with 25 years? A Peregrine Falcon, he is lucky if he lives 25 years. The human type though, he doesn’t deserve one. An eye for an eye, I say. —Justified

Nicotine patches and gums are medicines. These pharmaceutical nicotine products do make medicinal claims — hence they are "drugs" (medicines) under Canadian law, regardless of their content. E-cigarettes are not medicines. They do not make medicinal claims, and do not function as medicines either. Hence e-cigarettes are not "drugs" (medicines) under Canadian law, regardless of nicotine content.

Health Canada cannot lawfully "authorize" or approve non-medicines as medicines. Doctors know this, as does Health Canada. Insisting that e-cigarettes are required to seek approval as something that they aren't (knowing full well that any such approval is impossible for Health Canada to ever grant) is ridiculous, unlawful, and puts Canadians at greater risk. The deception works to deter smokers from switching to vaping, and works to delay the e-cig industry from understanding and following applicable laws and regulations.

E-cigarettes are not tobacco products. E-cigarettes (with or without nicotine) contain no tobacco and produce no smoke. They are not tobacco products, and cannot be regulated as tobacco in Canada. The federal Tobacco Act exempts e-cigarette products with nicotine from being classed as tobacco. Canadian law already regulates e-cigarettes. Popular myth says that e-cigarettes with nicotine are "illegal" or "banned" in Canada, and remain unregulated. Yet according to Canadian law, these products are legal and regulated. Canadian law says that e-cig hardware items are regulated as consumer products, and that e-liquid with nicotine (the liquid vaporized by an e-cigarette) is regulated as a consumer chemical product under the Consumer Chemicals and Containers Regulations, 2001. The government is simply not admitting this fact or enforcing these regulations.

Smoking kills. E-cigarettes do not. E-cigarettes with nicotine have not been scientifically demonstrated to be any more harmful than typical caffeine consumption.

Globally, smoking kills approximately six million people every year. E-cigarette use has never demonstrably killed anyone. To date there is no credible scientific evidence to suggest (let alone demonstrate) that e-cigarettes will ever kill anyone when used as intended.

Health Canada is lying about which laws apply. For years, Health Canada has provably misled Canadians about the regulatory requirements for e-cigarettes — and with reason. Billions of dollars are collected each year in tobacco-tax revenue alone. E-cigarettes present the gravest commercial threat to smoking the world has ever seen. The government is not eager to see the status quo change — even if it saves the lives of millions who would otherwise die from smoking. Anti-smoking groups (like Smoke Free Nova Scotia – funded by Health care dollars from the government and health authorities, Cancer Care Nova Scotia, Capital Health themselves, the Lung Association of Nova Scotia) want smokers to keep on smoking. Tobacco control has become a very lucrative gravy train for them, well-funded by big pharmaceutical companies and government. If vast numbers of Canadian smokers switch to e-cigarettes and no longer smoke, anti-smoking groups will soon have no further reason to exist. They are no more eager than Health Canada is to see smokers voluntarily switch in droves to an attractive, non-lethal consumer alternative to smoking.

Flavors in e-cigarettes are a deterrent to smoking, not a gateway to it. Smokers who switch to electronic cigarettes quickly realize that, comparatively, cigarette smoke tastes disgusting. The wide variety of flavors available in e-cigarettes discourage a relapse to smoking. Why would anyone using an affordable, pleasantly flavored e-cigarette that is not killing them decide to switch to expensive, filthy-tasting real cigarettes which will kill them? "Gateway" fears are simply unfounded. —a vaper, no longer a smoker

YES, Toronto has more good restaurants and YES, Toronto has better shopping and YES, Ontario has "real" winters...so here's a thought...instead of CONSTANTLY bitching about Halifax and how it's inferior to Toronto, why not do us all a favour and just move the hell back and shut the hell up already? Why are you here? Buh BYE! —Tired of your CONSTANT bitching

I post here often. I comment often. I also tell the truth about what happened in my life. Good, bad, ironic or funny. That's the great thing about this medium... you can be totally honest with people anonymously, say what you "Really want to say out loud and in public" without the risks of being looked down upon and with a little luck, get the benefit of honest comments about your post... good, bad, ironic and funny. It is a great replacement for therapy. —Can't afford therapy

My Mom was recently assaulted at work by a customer/member. He came up behind her, unprovoked, grabbed her by the shoulder and violently shook her, injuring her. You would think that her long time employer would stand by her, right? NOPE! They are staying out of it. Going so far as telling employees they are not aloud to discuss it. They have not even revoked this guys membership, have not banned him from the store or the property. He is still allowed, and has since this happened, gone into the big concrete store where my Mom works. Thankfully she was not there. My Moms employer is trying to sweep this under the rug. Much like other assaults by members to employees. They clearly do not value their employees. They do not provide a safe working environment for their employees. How can they expect someone to return to work knowing the person who assaulted them can come back and do so again? Where are they when their employees need them??

Then to make matters worse, the police said they had more then enough evidence to press charges (my Moms statement and injuries, 2 other members who saw the assault and left their contact info for the police because they WANTED to give a statement, and multiple other employees who witnessed it) all of a sudden changed their tune saying they didn't feel comfortable pressing charges under the circumstances, which is that the guy has no record. So there you go Halifax. No criminal record? Bad day?? GO ASSAULT SOMEONE! —Fed up Haligolian

Big props to the forward-thinking asshole who built the fashionable new house with the massive, just absurdly bright green florescent lighting system running completely around the building, which stays on all fucking night every night. I also love the huge motion-sensor spotlights aimed at the SIDEWALK, which also appear to make your next door neighbour look like an old-timey jailbreaker when she's taking out her trash. Your house looks like a landing pad for super douchey aliens. Please tear it down and salt the earth. —You Are Terrible At Designing Things

People get so freaked out when they think the government is watching but everyone broadcasts their lives on social media anyway. Trust me even if you're not directly doing it your friends are doing it for you. But the minute it comes up that the government has surveillance programs in place which is fucking obvious to anyone with a brain then its the end of the world. I'm happier knowing that someone cares and pays attention then knowing some loser doesn't have all the privacy they want. You want a safe and secure continent then this is the price we pay. If you don't like then fucking move!!! Seriously, what do you have to hide? Nothing? Then what is the problem? No wait I get it, only THEY should be watched, not YOU. YOU have rights that should be protected, but if something terrible happened then you'd have no rights, yes? —Have fun on FB hypocrites!

1. a class 1 driver's licence for a lonely trucker job
2. a pair of steel toed boots for some tedious low-paid factory work
3. some janitorial experience
4. a desire to go to Alberta

That is a summary of the qualifications you'll need before even thinking of applying for any kind of job in Halifax. Maybe you can add "good strong back" to that list for this winter, for those of you who feel like breaking your back making a pitiful $12/hr shovelling snow at any given time. On top of it all, the internet job classifieds are saturated with low-life scammers. There are more people looking for work than there are jobs available, and yes it's true, it is often only about who you know. I think I'm breaking up with you, Halifax. —lotstooffer

It is time to put the history of the Seaport Farmers' Market in the past. I don't give a fig who did what. What I do care about is having a daily source for local food and a place where I can shop that is filled with local family businesses. Don't penalize the vendors at the Seaport Farmers' Market just because you are ticked at the prior management or even the current management. If you don't buy from the local family vendors at the Seaport Market regularly, there will be no Halifax Farmers' Market ( or centralized location for small local, businesses) because the vendors will not be able to pay their rent. I am fairly certain that many of the Coast readers shop at supermarkets more than once a week..and if each person did some of that shopping during the week at the Farmer's Market, it would make a world of difference to the current daily vendors at the Farmers' Market and the ability of the Market to attract new vendors during the week. The existing daily vendors work hard to bring good local food to Halifax and they deserve our financial support. If they go and/or the existing vendors on the weekend market don't make enough to support themselves throughout the week and quit coming, what is the HPA going to do with the space? The HPA mandate with respect to real estate is "to achieve the highest and best use of each piece of property" . An empty Farmers' Market most days of the week is certainly not the highest and best use. So, all you localvores, quit complaining and put your money where your mouth is. —Put your money where your mouth is