DenyAsk

A few weeks ago I spoke with someone who considered himself an atheist.  In passionate tones, he told me his reason for denying the existence of God.  The Bible has a specific message to people like him: "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"  If you are part of the rising militant army of atheists or the "closet" unbeliever,  this is a gentle invitation to explore "the other side" of unbelief.  I mean, why do you clutch so tightly to a few intellectually dishonest arguments in the face of overwhelming evidence?  Have you saddled a chariot and traversed the breath of this limitless universe to find Him?  Have you galloped through our solar system, have you touched the edges of our Milky Way?  Have you hitched your wagon for the 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 km journey it takes to explore your neighborhood galaxy?  Umm, no.  It takes about 100,000 light years to explore your cosmic backstreets, which, in ou...

Guest Post by Cabot Martin My last post on the Uncle Gnarley Blog - entitled  Premier Needs Quebec Judge's Help On Forensic Audit - was about possible criminal activity on the Muskrat project and the need for a forensic audit. The previous piece I authored - back in May - was called  Of Deceit, Emera and Muskrat Madness . It described a possible action of civil deceit against Emera with respect to their very burdensome Muskrat contracts with Nalcor. Both very important issues.  But as my good friend Con O�Brien is quick to point out, over-riding all is the North Spur. Muskrat must be halted for that reason alone � Now. But that issue sometimes (all the time?) gets lost in the Muskrat shuffle. So let�s go through it yet one more time. (1)   There are many ways the North Spur can fail. (2) The start of a Quick Clay landslide is unpredictable and can involve   relatively small amounts of energy. Look at this excellent, very frightening, Norwegian video on the 1978...

I have been absent from the world of words in the internet world for a long time.  I am becoming increasingly aware that my silence is no less than sin against my Father God.  No, there is no "thou shalt write" commandment hidden in the beautiful pages of my Bible.  What it is, instead,is an inner urging to use my voice, the voice He has given me, to lay down reflections of His heart lived out in me.  More than anything, I want this "pen" to bring glory to God, the One who has relentlessly loved me and kept me throughout my life. Some of my reflections will seem incredibly "trifling", like my love for chocolate.  Yes, you read it right.  Yesterday I made a batch of raw chocolate fudge that looks deceptively healthy (no dairy, gluten-free, grain-free; I mean, it is practically a vegetable). "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good...", cried the psalmist, and every time I serve my favorites in the food department, my tastebuds t...

Guest Post by PlanetNL PlanetNL2 � Muskrat Will Cause Monumental Government Debt and Social Pressure In last week�s inaugural PlanetNL, the post-Muskrat rate hike was predicted to rise quickly into the 30-35 c/kWh range and then to continue to spiral upward as the market continually fails to deliver required revenue.  This pricing model should be considered theoretical because it�s too insane to think the Government would actually allow rate runaway to happen and not attempt to intervene with a better alternative that can preserve stability of the market and the survival of the utilities that serve it. Logically, Government must limit rates to some sustainable level that ratepayers can bear.  They must also not allow the bankruptcy of NL Hydro and the Nalcor companies as this would lead to the evisceration of core Government assets to outside interests. Government has little choice but to lean heavily on the public purse of the taxpayer to make up the shortfall in utility reve...

Nalcor�s lack of quality control on the Muskrat Falls project failed to detect a faulty transmission cable, containing a "popped" wire, which was strung � with the defect � on a large section of the Labrador Island Link. CBC reported the issue in June 2016. Flabbergasted by what he had read, James L. Gordon, the Canadian engineer who has written repeatedly on the Uncle Gnarley Blog, contacted renowned transmission line designer J.P. Schell, P. Eng. (Ret�d) and asked him to examine the issue. Mr. Schell wrote a piece entitled Design Engineer Baffled By Extent of Muskrat TL Flaw Reported by CBC for this Blog. The transmission cable (170 km X 2 lines = 340 km of D.C. conductor wire) was spun at the factory, shipped, stored and erected before anyone at Nalcor noticed � testimony to a management ill-equipped for the roles they fill. Wire - now scrap - arriving at Newco Metal Yard (Happy Valley-Goose Bay) Engineer Schell wrote: " This massive failure of Quality Assurance c...

Guest Post by PlanetNL PlanetNL1: Like a Hurricane - Muskrat To Destroy Utility System in 2020 This guest blog series is offered to demonstrate the true value of Muskrat Falls (aka Lower Churchill Project) and to expose the risks and burdens imposed by it on Newfoundland ratepayers and taxpayers.   The view will be predominantly forward looking, relying on best available project and market information to deliver plain economic analysis that can be appreciated by a wide range of people.   There will be little ranting as the dire economic concerns will speak for themselves.   First up is a deeper exploration of consumer billing rates than Nalcor and Government have been providing.   The Nalcor rate projection has consistently gone up as the Muskrat project has advanced with cost overruns, yet it seems they have not given all the facts.   They already have a prediction of more than doubling rates after the project is commissioned in 2020 but PlanetNL projects that ...

GUEST POST WRITTEN BY CABOT MARTIN So is the Muskrat fat finally in the fire? Premier Ball�s nostrils are definitely offended by the stink from Muskrat Falls but it�s Nalcor�s method of paying it�s top end workers that seems to be the immediate cause. We�ll have an inquiry into Muskrat, he says, and it will even start before the site is deserted. We are working on the Terms of Reference, he says,  ... and this employment contract mess will be included and, of course, we cannot delay the project. Opps! A curious turn of logic . Big problem � long finger. Premier � you are on the mark with the need for a Public Inquiry but you need a road map to get there. All these thousands of gold plated hourly rate personal labor arrangements (covering it is said some 4.6 million person hours at $100 to $250 and higher per hour) are something that will not be acceptable to many � the opportunity for abuse is exacerbated by Nalcor�s obviously dysfunctional management process. Moreover, Nalcor�s us...