I have a confession to make: I have never voted at the ‘municipal’ level, since the province dissolved that level of government in 1996. It's a kangaroo court of a top-down, city-county amalgamation that I can't will myself to participate in, since doing so would represent an acceptance by me of what occurred, and its legitimacy. Perhaps ironically, more than 350,000 citizens in Halifax County had their cherished local government—traditionally the level of government most accessible, most accountable and closest to the people, most democratic—dissolved without so much as a non-binding plebiscite to indicate support or consent, and replaced it with a county wide ‘municipal government’ that devotes none of its time to my community, except in some dictatorial sense. To cap it all of, the districts are gerrymandered to cut through traditional urban neighborhoods and communities in an effort to ‘guide’ our transition to serfdom. We're down to 16 councillors now, for a landmass the size of Lebanon. Twice as many households in my district in my community than in many others in the ‘municipality.’ Thirty-five percent turnout in the last election? Only 16 percent bothered turning out to elect the last councillor? That's a crisis of legitimacy, not engagement. I know and have gotten in touch with councillors, prospective or active. I'm concerned with issues and I have love for my community. But my city no longer exists and so, I no longer have any vote to give. The province needs a wakeup call when it comes to best practices in democracy, regional governance and regional resource sharing. HRM is, and always will be, a failure. —Nova Scotia, the New Uzbekistan

So how does it feel now that you have stretched your earlobes to shit because you were young & stupid enough to put a three inch disks in them? Now you expect a 'normal' job & no one's touching you with a ten foot Q-Tip so what's the game plan now? Maybe you could use a twist tie to secure the loops behind your head. Same goes for stupidly thought out tattoos, like getting Fuck You! tattooed on your knuckles. Nice one! —There's A Fortune To Be Made in Earlobe Reconstructive Surgery

...Quite Contrary- Feel better about yourself after today? Good, I am sure you do but that doesn't mean that people still don't know that you are the WORST to work for with your rude behaviour and childish ways. To be fair I waited to form my own conclusions but YOU do have many problems, including poor management. I feel sad for you. I just made the best decision for me and that feels great! But who am I? Right, just another worker not doing enough to help out. —Didn't even pay minimum wage..isn't that illegal?

Internet voting? What internet voting? The pin doesn't work. OK, I'll try the phone number. Invalid credentials. So what's the point of mailing me this? I work nights so voting during the day at the polling station is inconvenient. But I guess it's my only option since this shit doesn't work. I'm not even surprised. I hope they didn't waste too many tax dollars on this pointless voting system. —annoyed

I think the only way the long term care system in the Halifax area is going to change is if people who work in the facilities speak up, people who aren't afraid to lose their jobs, who can step outside the Unions which are often corrupt, to rise up and truly do what you are meant to do, and that is help people. The question is will you? Do you have the courage? We all no that there are people in higher up positions with in these care facilities that have no right being in a care environment. Rise up, take action, save lives. —One batch

To the woman in cover-alls at the Sloan show: you suck. People like you at concerts are the worst. You try and get up front well after the band has started and expect to get the spot you want just because... why exactly? Because it's closer to someone you know? Because you deserve it? I don't think so. You expected me to give up my spot for you despite me being there long before the band even started. You pushed me, banged into me repeatedly, and then purposefully got in my face just to spite me. Then you even had the gall to shit-talk me to your friends right behind my back. Amazing. I even explained to you that I wouldn't be able to see if I had moved to where you "wanted me to move" but that's just not good enough for Queen Cover-Alls. And, hey, FYI - everyone else around us also thought you were an idiot. —Underwhelmed by obnoxiousness

This is not the kind of civil unrest we need at the moment. There are more important issues we need to be dealing with. What we need is to take back our communities. Take back our safety. Citizen groups on patrol. Almost everyone has a cell phone. Call the police. Using fear as a tactic against the public is as wrong as you can get. If they had an agenda to torment political establishment or corporate greed, I could understand a bit, but terrorizing women and children is criminal. I imagine vigilante groups will start up soon and it will get even worse by Halloween if it's not dealt with. The cops suck. Their training is ancient and the whole police construct needs to be rearranged, but for now, we the people should be able to call them and use them to chase the buggers off at the least. If we the people let them know we're not gonna stand for that shit, they will change their tune or face obvious establishment punishments. We as a collective people have tremendous power, and sometimes when you don't use something for a while, you forget how it works. The crazy things going on in our side of the globe right now, we've got to do something quick. —Maybe not

I've lived in a lot of places, in Canada and abroad. By FAR the Maritimes is populated with the most small minded, petty, closet-racist, closet-homophobic, Indigenous-hating, we've-done-it-like-this-for-decades-and-our-unwillingness-to-change-will-be-our-ultimate-demise, downright-NIMBY assholes I've ever met. You can't afford NOT to have a carbon tax, morons. Those wind turbines? You don't hate them because they look bad, you hate them because your uncle's cousin once worked at a coal mine before it got shut down and you're blaming the green energy for him losing his job. Immigrants? You don't hate them because they take away jobs, you fuckers refuse to do ANY of the thankless minimum-wage, night-shift, greasy, dirty, dangerous jobs immigrants get stuck doing. No, you hate immigrants because they COME FROM AWAY and anybody who comes from away must be a lower class of person than a proud fucking Nova Scotian! What exactly are you proud of? The high cancer rates? The high poverty rates? The fact you have to send most workers to other provinces for jobs because Nova Scotia has exactly zero prospects for young people? Oh right, that's stopped too now, eh? What a joke. And before you say 'well what are you doing here if you hate it?' I can tell you. Cheap real estate. —I'm Glad I Come From Away, It Means I Don't Have East Coast Syndrome

Apartment hunting on kijiji and trying to find an affordable place in a decent location is like trying to catch a fart in a windstorm. The most shit-hole in the wall you can imagine is at least $750/month. Heat and hot water is rarely included. It will say Dartmouth, until you click open the ad, and then you see it is Primrose, or Pinecrest or Jackson Road or insert crime-ridden area. You look though the photos of the joint and it's always really trashy looking. Peeling Linoleum floors, ugly dated 70's fridge and stove. Then these slumlords have the nerve to say "no partiers," "no loud music," "no smoking?" Are you fucking kidding me? You think you're gonna tell me how to live now? Who do these landlords think they are??? You don't have the right to tell me how to live my life. The Residential Tenancy Act trumps any special rules you may wish to stipulate as a landlord, rendering them null and void. So make all the rules you want, asshole. I'll lie to your fucking face if I want. It's not against the law to smoke in my own home, which I pay rent for...and it's not illegal to play loud music before 11 pm. So deal with it, fuckface. You should BE so lucky someone is willing to rent your roach motel for the exorbitant prices you're asking. FUCK YOU! —Your next tenant

Was a fantastic event,loved sampling and talking to the growers. Only bitch: Chowder was very thin, mostly salmon, and a small serving for $5. —halifax seafood lover for 50 years