tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post7967346547179644008..comments2023-10-25T07:29:40.789-02:30Comments on UNCLE GNARLEY: FAULTY TOWERS: A NALCOR COMEDY (OF ERRORS)Des Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566013585647491614noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-56071289428359450942017-11-12T19:08:05.893-03:302017-11-12T19:08:05.893-03:30Are you even from NL? What depth of knowledge do y...Are you even from NL? What depth of knowledge do you have of this province and its history? Doesn't seem like you have much. The problems here run much deeper than MF and those are the problems I am talking about. I have lived here all of my life, growing up in rural NL the son of a miner and the grandson of fishermen. If you think it's amusing that people should be accountable for their own life choices and embrace self determination over government dependency, you have a bizarre sense of humor better suited to other places.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-27168396065581159262017-11-12T17:40:07.073-03:302017-11-12T17:40:07.073-03:30The money is already lost Bruno. The only question...The money is already lost Bruno. The only question now is how does NL repay the debt. You are looking at a picture inside the picture. We can pay the loss through payment of utility bills and receive power or pay it through more taxes on the people and get nothing. Pick your poison as there is no good way out of this one. Regarding experts on science, engineering, medicine... for every opinion, there is a contrarian opinion that can be developed and presented. Complex engineering issues are not simple to model and there is often debate between those qualified as to credibility of different models. There is no single formula that will provide the answers here. I suspect that numerical methods (probably finite element based software) have been used to model the north spur, meaning formulas and analytical methods would be a very small part of the analysis. Numerical methods use computer hardware to crunch the analysis using convergent numerical models. I would buy into this as a failed design if the original technical authority for the north spur openly acknowledged he/she had made a mistake but this to my knowledge has not happened. There are laws related to ethics that bind PEs to disclose mistakes that jeopardize public safety, as knowingly concealing an oversight of this magnitude would likely lead to jail time. I'm highly skeptical that a mistake like this would be made and left unchecked by Nalcor or the technical authority who developed the design. You believe what you want to believe but it seems to me you are dependent on somebody to provide you with their assessments of the technical aspects of the north spur so you can form an opinion as opposed to having the knowledge to form your own opinion. You should stick to your knitting and the leave technical work to those who have the training.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-41415570539528972942017-11-10T17:15:48.150-03:302017-11-10T17:15:48.150-03:30Hmmmmmm....where have I heard this violent blame t...Hmmmmmm....where have I heard this violent blame the victim rant before? Your reverse Archie Bunker analogy is amusing.Bruno Marcocchiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08076165212559914463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-8369571611971396322017-11-10T17:08:55.926-03:302017-11-10T17:08:55.926-03:30As a PE how did you miss the world class expert on...As a PE how did you miss the world class expert on quick clay has reviewed the spur engineering design and determined they used the wrong models. An MA student applied the proper formula and determined the spur WILL fail. With your background why is this not important to you?<br /><br />You misrepresent my main point. The RATEPAYER will lose 40 or so cents a KwH for every KwH produced for 57 years. Only Nalcor's books win, people lose. Is that not enough to abandon MF or is extortion from rate/taxpayers for uneeded power for 57 years acceptable to you?<br /><br />Accusing the other for using the rhetorical device one is using oneself is a cheap trick. Just who is misinformed about the spur engineering?Bruno Marcocchiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08076165212559914463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-26324839216776944502017-11-10T08:45:57.387-03:302017-11-10T08:45:57.387-03:30The mess we are in is the product of 50 years of o...The mess we are in is the product of 50 years of operating like a welfare state. It is the responsibility of the people to create their own opportunities and to drive the economy but for some reason, a lot of people here think that is the role of government. That is a fundamental flaw in the thinking of many of the people here. NLers also use their politicians as punching bags, and the politicians cannot fight back because they do not want to jeopardize losing votes in the next election. One of the byproducts of this situation is to ensure that those who are best qualified to lead this province never do because, let's face it, it is not worth the bs. To say we are not capable of governing ourselves is a sad and inaccurate comment. A more accurate comment is that it is nearly impossible to govern here because the vast majority people have unrealistic expectations of their politicians and their government. Stephen Harper publicly said that NLer have a defeatist attitude and he was right. Many people complain about high unemployment but most couldn't be bothered to try to create a job for themselves or even train for the jobs that are available here. The government is stepping up immigration now partially because there are a significant number of high skill jobs in NL that have for decades been filled by people from outside the country because there are not enough NLers to fill those jobs. For these jobs, government sees no taxation because the employers have head office outside the province. In the midst of near 20% unemployment we have to bring immigrants here to fill some of the best paying jobs available in the province. The immigrants are not like most NLers because they expect nothing from government and generally all they want is a shot at realizing their full potential through their own hard work. Very admirable people and if you haven't noticed, immigrants are increasingly taking leadership roles in government and business across the entire country. They laugh at our complaining and entitlement, as they come here with nothing, work their butts off and realize tremendous success. If I had any advice for Dwight Ball, it is to stop wasting your time in the role of Premier and go back to running your pharmacy business, which has far less headaches and is far more rewarding. Cathy Bennett has already made first steps in that direction and I am sure will not run in next election. You call them elites but they are people who started with nothing and put many years of hard work into education and business to get what they have and they are not in politics for the money because they can make far more money not being in politics. If these are the people you call elites, well get ready for the "elite" class to be people of colour. It will take a generation but it's coming because the immigrants will put the work in where most NLer are not prepared to do that. You get out of life what you put into it and most people here are not prepared to put in much. Regarding big mouth and small brain, most of the people here who run their mouth off have extremely limited insight into what they are talking about. It is really laughable at times. Informed opinions are based on knowledge acquired through education and work experience relevant to the issues, but many of the people here who speak with strongest conviction on issues have neither the training or experience to express informed opinions. It's too bad that people here don't put the same energy into pursuing advancement and opportunity as they do into complaining. This province could be a different place if this were to change.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-25730039499583751172017-11-09T18:26:58.854-03:302017-11-09T18:26:58.854-03:30Regarding North Spur I cannot comment as it is a m...Regarding North Spur I cannot comment as it is a matter for highly trained people to design. I am a Professional Engineer (mechancial) with 25 years of experience and I would not be so presumptuous to make statements about technical issues to be sorted out by individuals with PhD in geotechnical engineering, which from my understanding is the qualifications of the primary technical overseer for the North Spur design. I know the public, including you, seem to have this all sized up so you must clearly have the qualifications to make these statements... or do you? There are opinions and then there are informed opinions and I really prefer the latter. Regarding the financial aspects of the project blind chump, the money is already mostly spent so the taxpayer can either repay the associated debt and get nothing or repay the debt and get power in the process. Gee... I wonder which would be better? Not to mention that MF is a new power generation facility in a province where power generation facilities like Holyrood are falling apart. So we shut down MF, take the financial hit, get nothing for it and then build more power generation facilities to replace the faultering infrastructure? Great strategy Bruno... you should run for Premier.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-46915698103028439742017-11-09T12:32:27.168-03:302017-11-09T12:32:27.168-03:30Sorry 18:02 you have it back assward. Continuing w...Sorry 18:02 you have it back assward. Continuing would be disastrous when the spur fails. Do Labrador lives matter?<br /><br />The most disastrous mistake you make is assuming that completing MF will earn revenue. When it costs 60 cents KwH delivered to Soldiers Pond and the revenue will be 17-22 cents from ratepayers in NL, 4-5 cents delivered to NS or N England how does that make money??<br /><br />It makes money for Nalcor who have a disempowered, blind chump, it loses 40 to 55 cents KwH for the ratepayer for EVERY Kwh produced at MF for 57 years! Is that what you mean by make money? Did you take financial lessons from Ed Martin???Bruno Marcocchiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08076165212559914463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-80211412717358754632017-11-08T21:45:38.647-03:302017-11-08T21:45:38.647-03:30And now here we have Anon 20:40, either a Nalcor s...And now here we have Anon 20:40, either a Nalcor shill or a Coady the Incompetent shill... likely both... trying to tell UG Nation that the NL legislature might not be able to repeal its own legislation. ?? <br /><br />Because of "international/extraprovincial/civil laws" <br /><br />??? <br /><br />How daft is that? That's just bloody-well absurd.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-12613470829698396552017-11-08T18:02:41.684-03:302017-11-08T18:02:41.684-03:30That's brilliant. Project is approx 70% comple...That's brilliant. Project is approx 70% complete and you want to shut it down rather than spend the last 30% to complete and start to generate revenue. Just because it is written here 100 times doesn't make it sensible. Stan Marshall and Dwight Ball have it sized up right. Continuing is necessary because stopping SURELY would be disastrous, as we would see no revenue source from the large investment that has been made. I guess Stan and Dwight don't write in this blog. Stan Marshall is a P.Eng. and an expert in these type of projects from his days as CEO at Fortis. The path is obvious... and it is to continue. Lesson learned by NL government. Do not engage in business ventures, as the people have no stomach for risk and they want to cut and run at first sign of problems.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-1816927375775549902017-11-08T09:27:07.648-03:302017-11-08T09:27:07.648-03:30Perhaps they are covered by intergalactic law to p...Perhaps they are covered by intergalactic law to protect Nalcor secrecy. Are you sure you are not a beneficiary of the Nalcor largesse? Are you an "agent" skimming a percentage of the contract employees salary (or both in the same incarnation it would appear!)?Bruno Marcocchiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08076165212559914463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-63020254149306163192017-11-08T07:23:16.959-03:302017-11-08T07:23:16.959-03:30You silly fool 1127, waiting to see if UG is wrong...You silly fool 1127, waiting to see if UG is wrong...so what if he is, it doesn't cost the taxpayers or ratepayer a Nicole, and nalcor blunders will cost us billions, and you and your type has got us into this dam mess... Penny wise and pound foolish. Get a grip for Christ sake...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-24286476573822324472017-11-08T03:07:49.827-03:302017-11-08T03:07:49.827-03:30"God forsake that people actually try to cont..."God forsake that people actually try to contribute to solutions". There is one obvious solution that has been written here hundreds of times. Shut the project down. If you believe that there are factual inaccuracies in the articles in this blog then please enlighten us with your analysis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-92159377875515523502017-11-08T03:01:22.507-03:302017-11-08T03:01:22.507-03:30What is fake about it? It seems to be quality jour...What is fake about it? It seems to be quality journalism to me, and unfortunately, the type of thing I'd expect from Nalcor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-26795376255423433302017-11-08T01:34:22.673-03:302017-11-08T01:34:22.673-03:30That is if there is a problem with the piles to be...That is if there is a problem with the piles to begin with..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-39336906381357284892017-11-08T01:11:06.675-03:302017-11-08T01:11:06.675-03:30The welds were done on what is called piles. These...The welds were done on what is called piles. These act as like a base for the towers. These are not made in Turkey and are not galvanized. These "piles" are used mostly where ground conditions are not suitable for tower erection alone. The repairs should be able to be done without dismantling but will still be a lot of work. As for the two people that died, a shame, that was on a different transmission line, different company, different towers, etc. Nothing to do with maritime link.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-53059009760813561302017-11-07T20:55:10.148-03:302017-11-07T20:55:10.148-03:30The end to offshore gas on the NS shelf?
http://t...The end to offshore gas on the NS shelf?<br /><br />http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1518388-end-in-sight-for-natural-gas-project. <br /><br />Some day NL offshore oil may meet the same fate? What is the fallback plan?Robert G Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05356463540446993862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-22774213737390626962017-11-07T20:40:39.992-03:302017-11-07T20:40:39.992-03:30Not going to be that easy---these are personal ser...Not going to be that easy---these are personal services contracts and may not be governed by NL laws, possibly international/extraprovincial/civil laws depending on the situation of a particular person. NL or Nalcor doesn't get the final say here---will most likely be a long time before any of that is released if ever....<br /><br />In any event it would be significantly cheaper on a per hour basis to farm personal services via 'body shop' than to either use a 3rd party (Stantec, AMEC, SNC, Golder etc) or for Nalcor to hire directly(check our the HAY scale, Nalcors fig on that is probably about 40% to cover benefits)....<br /><br />I would say this is the 1 thing done right on this piece of work....<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-22803041625730241042017-11-07T19:32:18.347-03:302017-11-07T19:32:18.347-03:30So here is the first test for the new Ball carbon/...So here is the first test for the new Ball carbon/environmental pollution issue.<br /><br />http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/oil-spill-corner-brook-stream-1.4390747<br /><br />What if any penalty would you assess, as compared to how the NL gov. reacts?Robert G Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05356463540446993862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-50169580604905651552017-11-07T18:16:30.679-03:302017-11-07T18:16:30.679-03:30Siobahn Coady always looks like a deer caught in t...Siobahn Coady always looks like a deer caught in the headlight.<br /> <br />Save the bloody act for the dupes who elected you. You have a bloody majority, just repeal the god-damned legislation!<br /><br />http://vocm.com/news/natural-resources-minister-slams-pcs-over-nalcor-exemptions/<br />PO'ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-43643181567668017892017-11-07T18:05:53.391-03:302017-11-07T18:05:53.391-03:30All bolted connections except foundation - welded ...All bolted connections except foundation - welded and concrete - many issues - and the project team knew it at the time but direction was - full steam ahead before snow 2018 - recall power needed on east coastAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-73278466198159243262017-11-07T14:27:10.661-03:302017-11-07T14:27:10.661-03:30Where is Jack Harris? He either should be at the F...Where is Jack Harris? He either should be at the Fed level running in Judy Foot's riding, or for provincial NDP, to help bring NL into the progressive society.Robert G Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05356463540446993862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-54656095312686622652017-11-07T14:02:05.012-03:302017-11-07T14:02:05.012-03:30Interim NDP leader Lorraine Michael has come alive...Interim NDP leader Lorraine Michael has come alive and wants to see the Nalcor procurement numbers that were due every 6 months. Of course Nalcor produced no such reports.<br /><br />http://www.thetelegram.com/news/ndp-questions-nalcors-procurement-reporting-159424/<br /><br />Lorraine seems to have come alive on her rebound leaders gig. The NDP were passive and complicit during her tenure as leader. If she had done this three years ago there is a good chance she would be Premier.<br /><br />Coady covers for Nalcor saying the monthly "reports" are all that is needed despite the fact that they are devoid of content. They can be summarized as "we met, we talked, we adjourned". And of course the independent contractors are not included. <br /><br />That the Libs are protecting the whole rotten Nalcor edifice at this point is mind numbing. Sioban must be the daughter of Commander Coady (and his lost planet airmen). Bruno Marcocchiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08076165212559914463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-39569138229747374922017-11-07T12:57:06.139-03:302017-11-07T12:57:06.139-03:30The Kill Site C fight is going down to the wire;
...The Kill Site C fight is going down to the wire;<br /><br />https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15f93c0b3397b56fRobert G Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05356463540446993862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-59904298869436835602017-11-07T12:13:42.907-03:302017-11-07T12:13:42.907-03:30Ten years from now we will probably be saying the ...Ten years from now we will probably be saying the same about the Ball Energy Plan for NL.<br /><br />https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2017/11/07/bc-liberals-clean-energy-plan/<br /><br />Wake up people, in particular the 30 somethings, the Muskrat fiasco is about to repeat.Robert G Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05356463540446993862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5235138415013046381.post-62779683382137226682017-11-07T12:07:45.387-03:302017-11-07T12:07:45.387-03:30Another dead end industrial experiment;
http://th...Another dead end industrial experiment;<br /><br />http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1518198-layoffs-announced-at-donkin-mine<br /><br />Why do we, the people, permit our elected representatives perpetuate the "make work at any cost" ideology.Robert G Holmeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05356463540446993862noreply@blogger.com