THE BARD ON THE SKUNK CASH MACHINE

Skunk (definition): Strong Weed. Ridiculously strong. Usually grown outdoors. It is a guaranteed f**king-up. This is the kind of weed that leaves you sitting there giggling for twenty minutes, your legs numb, your mind completely bricked, and your hands so twitchy you keep spilling the bongwater all over the floor. Another definition - only slightly different - is found on this link.

THE SKUNK CASH MACHINE 

The future to pot, Government’s bought,

Hundreds of jobs, excitement has caught.

Plants plan to proceed, now guaranteed:

Twelve tonnes to process has been agreed. 

A LEGAL CHALLENGE TO EMERA CONTRACTS NEXT?

Guest Post by David Vardy

SUPREME COURT OF CANADA: NL VS. NS ON CONTRACTUAL INEQUITY

The “Good Faith” Argument

Finally, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) is hearing the argument that the Churchill Falls contract is inequitable. The SCC hearing began on December 5, 2017. This is an appeal to a decision of the Supreme Court of Quebec, which was in turn an appeal of a decision rendered by Judge Joel Silcoff on July 24, 2014. CFLCo had sought the following declaration (Silcoff, p. 2):

POWER CORRIDOR FOR QUEBEC NOT ALL THAT IT SEEMS

What's behind the recent announcement by federal Energy Minister Jim Carr promoting  an “energy corridor” for the Atlantic provinces? How does it relate to this province? Are there other issues at play that should worry NL? Is the financial “dead carcass” of NL about to be picked over?*

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The public should worry when weak governments run the province. For a decade, successive administrations have given little focus to tough public policy issues, worsening an already difficult fiscal situation. They don't see that successful societies harm themselves looking inward when predators come calling. 

We forget that, while political parties, labour and business conduct their affairs with a vision narrow enough to be thought ‘in the moment,’ the real business of politics — our business — is being managed in places where strategic self-interest has long been defined.

BARD OF PYNN'S BROOK DOES A MINISPLIT

THE MINISPLIT

Adams claims a split in attic

Lowers heating bills dramatic.

Some can see a man pragmatic,

Others think the man fanatic.

Air exchange for heat advises

With less cost for mini sizes.

Their efficiency he eulogizes:

Could he own the split franchises?

- John Tuach

December 03, 2017

SENSE OF URGENCY REQUIRED ON NORTH SPUR STABILITY ISSUE

Guest Post by David Vardy

The North Spur Remains Unresolved and Urgent

Muskrat Falls is the only hydroelectric project in the world which relies on a large natural dam, underlain by sensitive glacial clays, and raising major concerns for local communities. Experts from the Geological Survey of Canada documented the extensive presence of glacial marine clays in the Lower Churchill in their testimony to the joint federal-provincial environmental panel.

The Labrador Land Protectors presented a petition to government on May 9, 2017 calling for the appointment of an independent expert panel on the North Spur.  It was signed by more than 1000 people. There has been no response. Since that time the urgency of the panel has been raised. It has been raised by new research conducted in Sweden as well as by revelations flowing from the SNC risk assessment report released by the Premier.

THE POSTER SAYS IT ALL!

MUST THE PEOPLE OF HV-GB AND MUD LAKE LEARN TO LIVE IN HARM'S WAY?

Guest Post by Cabot Martin

Dr Stig Bernander, someone I have the utmost respect for as a technical expert and as a very decent and moral man, continues to try to save us from ourselves at the North Spur.

His most recent contribution - Summing Up of North Spur Stability Issues -  gets right down into the weeds. He demonstrates that based on the little data that Nalcor has, something as basic as filling the reservoir may well trigger a failure of the North Spur.

Fairly basic stuff to overlook or not worry about.

THE BARD AND THE RISKS OF BUILDING ON CLAY

THE WISE MAN AND THE FOOLISH MAN*

The wise man built upon a rock, the foolish built on sand. 

The bible's lesson:  on sand, the structure will not stand.*

Clay, it's weaker than the sand, and, it's prone to collapse,  

And yet, at Muskrat Falls, clay planned as Churchill trap.**

A natural ridge with clay to impede the Churchill flow?

A natural dam with quick clay - part collapsed decades ago!

No mention in the bible of the man that built on clay:

Such building is foolhardy, maybe doesn't need to say. 

TERRIFYING CONCLUSION FOLLOWS RELEASE OF NEW BERNANDER REPORT ON NORTH SPUR

Guest Post By PlanetNL

PlanetNL6: Latest Bernander Report on North Spur Leads to Terrifying Conclusion

If there is one topic in the whole of Muskrat that is truly clear as mud, it’s the North Spur. Equally murky is Nalcor’s plan to use this natural formation across the Churchill River as the largest dam holding back the reservoir.  

PlanetNL’s agenda has deliberately left this challenging topic to others, choosing instead to concentrate primarily on the financial disaster that awaits the people of this Province upon Muskrat completion in 2021.  The others who have written on the North Spur are better researched on the subject and have written passionately about the North Spur on this blog and elsewhere.  

FISCAL CRISIS BIGGER THAN ACCOUNTED FOR IN EMPLOYERS' COUNCIL PLAN

“Another Way Forward” is a policy document recently released by the NL Employers’ Council. It is a response by the province’s largest business organization to our desperate fiscal crisis. It purports to contain suggestions for a “better way forward” than the one released last year by the Ball Administration.

High on the agenda of the Employers’ Council is a reduction in taxation on both business and individuals, cuts to government programs and services, and a reduction in public sector employment by attrition. 

The NLEC concludes that “government could remove more than a billion dollars in spending and we would still have:

1.       the largest spending per capita

2.      the highest paid public service and

3.      the highest spending on health and education of any province in Atlantic Canada.”