Saturday, October 30, 2010

Premier Double D 's government avoids TCC for meetings

When the Trade and Convention Centre opened years ago one of it's pluses, or so we were told, was the ability to be subdivided to take any sized convention, meeting or party. Seems that doesn't impress NDP Premier Darrell Dexter or his government minion's. There was a list published last week showing the top 15 meetings/conventions that the provincial government ran and none of them were at the TCC. Why not? It's not in use that much so it couldn't have been booked for all those nights and, seeing it belongs to the province it wouldn't have cost a cent. Seems NDP Premier Double D is bent on spreading the tax dollars around to the selected few, no different than the other two parties. Here, for those interested in a list of those meetings, who held them, where they were held and what the price tag per event was.
Bruce DeVenne

Friday, October 22, 2010

Lipstick on a pig award



This weeks winner is NDP Bill Estabrooks, He was on the air today with Rick Howe didn't stay around long enough to talk to any members of the public in fact he didn't even mention them in his factless speech. They talking to staff, to council everybody but us the people who will pay for this white elephant. He said its a give and take deal but did not mention that its our money that they are giving and taking. We were told that this would be an "open" deal but he then went onto say that he didn't want to discuss it in public. Remember this party was voted for because they were different. Can you see a difference? I cant. Here is a short article from local free lance writer Professor Stephen Kimber, It calls a spade a spade and equates what is going on to the Commonwealth Games fiasco. Speak up or you will pay up. E Mail Bill, The Premier and The mayor and tell them no you (who will pay for this half a billion deal) can't afford it!

Mayor Kelly kellyp@halifax.ca

NDP Honourable Bill Estabrooks Estabrooksenergyminister@gov.ns.ca

NDP Premier Darrell Dexter premier@gov.ns.ca

Urban Compass by Stephen Kimber

FROM METRO HALIFAX

June 25, 2010 3:50 a.m.


Last Friday, a group calling itself the Coalition to Save the View held a press conference to release its analysis of four reports on the financial viability of a new convention centre for downtown Halifax. Promoters want the province to ante up one-third of its $300-million cost.

You may recall that when those vital-to-understanding-the-business-case reports were first released last winter — following a freedom of information request from (let the record show) the coalition rather than any media outlet — they were so heavily censored as to be unintelligible.

At the end of April, under orders from provincial Infrastructure Minister Bill Estabrooks, the reports were finally released, almost in full.

Initial media accounts claimed the reports supported the convention centre. While technically true, such conclusions, the coalition countered, “can only have resulted from a very superficial reading of the reports.” The coalition’s documentation includes four, small-type pages filled with quotations from the reports, each raising doubts about the case for the convention centre.

Between caveats — one report concedes it was prepared “without the benefit of any primary research” — and quietly acknowledged facts — a “huge supply of underutilized facilities in the U.S.” is forcing convention marketers to deep discount or eliminate rental rates entirely in order to attract ever fewer conventions — the coalition argues the reports don’t actually make the upbeat case they claim to.

The coalition’s own analysis indicates it will cost governments far more to cover the interest on borrowing funds to build the centre than it will recover in additional tax revenues.

“There’s no business case,” the coalition concludes.

Rather than responding to the substance of those arguments, Halifax Herald business columnist Roger Taylor began his day-after-the-press-conference column this way: “It must be difficult for a group calling itself the Coalition to Save the View to argue that its opposition to a new convention centre in Halifax is anything other than an attempt to prevent high-rises from being built in the downtown.”

Huh?

Taylor coupled his swipe at the coalition’s motives — he didn’t mention that one key report in favour of a new convention centre was written by the executive director of Convention Centres of Canada, a convention industry-promoting agency — with a no-numbers, no-analysis attack on its conclusions. “The coalition’s effort to fight the project on economic grounds,” he wrote, “fell short.”

Of what exactly?

The convention centre is beginning to sound like the Commonwealth Games all over again. With promoters and the puff press urging us to drink the Kool-Aid — without wanting to tell us what’s really in it.

– Stephen Kimber, the Rogers Communications Chair in Journalism at the University of Kings College, is the author of eight books.

Bruce DeVenne

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Will the REAL NDP please stand up (or showup)

A couple of controversial news items in the last few days and, of course our fearless leader, NDP Premier Darrell Dexter, is winging his way around the world again like he did when the expense account scandal hit. This time its the convention centre and biomass fuel for the Power Company. Studies have shown that convention centre business has been dead for years with exception of annual shrinkage in income for centres. These studies and other news stories are available at http://www.governmentripoff.com/001.html
Biomass burning for power generation produces for carbon over the long run than coal studies show and the state of Massachusetts has done an about face on allowing it according to a news article included at the end of this article. Meanwhile those Nova Scotians who voted NDP to see things done the proper way are scratching their heads asking, what happened.
Long time opponents of the cooperate welfare bums system in play with the Liberals an PC parties the NDP no sooner got into power and they were handing out tens of millions to multi billion dollar companies. They were also caught with their hands in the cookie jar with respect to the expense scandal and now seem to have forgotten their long term seemingly phony call for a
greener Nova Scotia.
Seems they are no different, say whatever it takes to get elected then....business as usual.
Bruce DeVenne

Massachusetts Sees the Light on Biomass Power
Posted by Nils Bruzelius in Biofuels, Featured Articles, climate change on July 9, 2010


By Mary S. Booth, Ph.D., and EWG Executive Editor Nils Bruzelius

In a sharp about-face, Massachusetts officials have decided that biomass-fueled, electric-only power plants do not qualify as renewable energy sources because of the growing awareness that these facilities actually boost greenhouse emissions for decades, rather than helping to combat global warming.

The turnaround came close on the heels of a state-commissioned study by the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, which produced a “deeper understanding that the greenhouse gas impacts of biomass energy are far more complicated than the conventional view,” wrote Ian A. Bowles, the state’s secretary of energy and environmental affairs in a July 7 letter.

The decision indicates that critics of biomass-fueled power plans are gaining traction. Environmental Working Group and others have issued reports and studies pointing out the negative consequences of turning to wood biomass as a way to limit carbon dioxide emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The Massachusetts decision could prove to be a turning point in reappraising long-standing state and federal policies and laws that have encouraged biomass-fueled electric power with tax breaks and other incentives.

Like many states, Massachusetts has adopted legislation that mandates a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a plan that is supported by increasing the amount of renewable power generated by or purchased by the state each year. Until now, the state’s “renewables portfolio standard” (RPS) – the suite of technologies that are considered to provide renewable power – had included utility-scale biomass plants, and proposals for three large-scale plants are currently seeking state approval. Such plants consume hundreds of thousands of tons of wood a year – literally the equivalent of millions of trees – to produce power at very low efficiencies. (The efficiency a new biomass plant tops out around 24 percent, considerably worse than even an average coal plant at 33 percent.)

The Manomet study determined that even after 40 years of forest regrowth, net carbon dioxide emissions from biomass burning are still higher than from coal. EWG’s report reached similar conclusions, finding that pending climate change bills in Congress and state renewable fuels policies would “send a massive 4.7 billion ton pulse of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that would accelerate global warming as it drastically erodes forests’ ability to pull carbon out the atmosphere.” The EWG study also found that these policies would lead to “the equivalent of clear-cutting between 18 million and 30 million acres of forest” to supply fuel for currently proposed biomass plants.

Massachusetts has now recognized that biomass electric-only plants can only make climate change worse. Under the new policy, only small-scale combined-heat-and-power (CHP) biomass plants will be allowed as part of the state’s RPS, and they have to use fuels that won’t result in carbon emissions above what would be produced from other uses of those fuels.

That means, for instance, that some waste wood may be considered permissible “low-carbon” fuel, but to qualify for the renewables portfolio, even CHP plants will have to show that they emit no more than 50 percent of the carbon of a new combined-cycle gas plant over a 20-year life cycle.

These progressive, science-based regulations – the first of their kind in the nation – are the new gold standard for carbon accounting for biomass power. But all across the rest of the nation, a massive ramp-up in biomass power is occurring, both at new plants and at coal-burning plants that “co-fire” biomass. EWG has already documented that existing and proposed biomass plants and biomass co-firing will inevitably use whole trees as fuel – the industry admits it.

Kudos to Massachusetts for moving swiftly to counter this threat to forests and modify its policy in response to the best available science. It makes no sense to encourage renewable power that makes climate change worse.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Lipstick on a pig award



This weeks Lipstick on a pig award goes to NDP Premier Darrell ( yeah I bought a camera and laptops for me and my kid so what?) Dexter.
Darrell earned this award while insulting every Nova Scotian as he told us what a great deal this was. It was good for HRM, good for Nova Scotia and good for all of Atlantic Canada. He also added that this would put us on the map. How stupid does he think we are. The people who cared enough to study the convention centre business in North America know this for what it is an economic white elephant costing $350 million plus (that's right not the low figure the Premier is tossing around).

The scary part is the possibility that he believes this manure pile. Scary to think that somebody that gullible, that misinformed that disinterested in financial reality is the leader of our province.

I would imagine the next winner will be Mayor Peter Kelly when he announces that his total indifference to the financial needs of the residents of HRM has seen him sign onto the deal. Expect the same inane manure pile from him in selling it.


Remember they are doing this with no money from the fedsleaving us on the hook for that much more.

Remember all this when they come around next time looking for your votes (you'll have the tax increases to remind you)
Bruce Devenne

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Kiss the NS tax cap good-bye

Contrary to his and his party's election promises of no tax hikes Premier Darrell Derter's derriere hardly had the legislative chair warmed when they announced they were increasing the sales tax taking millions more out of the pockets of Nova Scotians. His unquenchable thirst for our money has all but shut down the retail gas business in Amherst as people cross the border to get cheaper New Brunswick gasoline. I suppose he had to pay for all those GPS systems, cameras, laptops and all the other goodies our elected officials seem to feel they are entitled buy with our money. Premiere Double D is now teaming up with that other well known spender, our Mayor Peter Kelly. They are teaming up to bring us even more horrendous costs with little or no benefit to the tax payers.
The province will trade the old convention centre to the city for city owned land. No indication yet what land but I have the funny feeling HRM will get the shorter end of the stick once again. The city will turn this into offices (suddenly we need that many offices?) at what costs we can only imagine. They will then build the new convention centre. The old one was a provincial owned deal but now, in true Liberal fashion, Premier Double D will download a portion of that cost onto us the ratepayers in HRM. That's right people you will pay your portion of the provinces cost and absorb even more because you live in HRM.
How will that financial Vaudeville team of Peter and Darrell pay for this? We were recently given a hint, the removal of the tax cap! They mentioned it, there was no great outcry so before too long you will see it vanish and your home taxes will sky rocket.
Remember the blended sales tax was tossed around, then signed into law as a voluntary thing but the good old Liberals under John Savage latched onto in and took hundreds of millions of more tax dollars from our pockets annually.
Remember they have to pay and subsidize the new convention centre. Mayor Peter Kelly wants $55 million plus for a new library while St. John NB can build a police station for $22 million plus and don't forget about Peter Kelly's high speed ferry that's still lurking in the background.
There seems to be no limits to their imaginations when it comes to spending (read squandering) our money and end to the ways and amounts they will take from us.

If you don't think the new convention centre is an economic hole in the ground take 15 minutes or so and read what the rest of North America says about them without the hype and unfounded statements that you get from you politicians. http://www.governmentripoff.com/001.html

Remember the lies and waste when this bunch both civic and provincial come knocking next time looking for you votes.
Bruce DeVenne

Saturday, October 2, 2010

What happened to the charges?

What ever happened to the criminal charges against the selected
few MLA's singled out as guilty? After years of sanctimonious
breast beating by the NDP they finally gained power only to
be caught in the same expense account scandals as the rest.
Strangely though some skated free as underlings claimed responsibility for "mistakes" in record keeping. How did Premier
Darrell Dexter
manage to swim through the net? He bought himself a very high end digital camera (his hobby is photography) and not one but two high end laptops, one that was in use by his kid at school.
They think the funds are there to use as a personal Christmas fund. Why should we buy them GPS systems? They found their way around the riding to get elected (at that point they would have had to pay for the system out of their own funds) and if they can't find their way to the legislature without a taxpayer paid for GPS system fire them!

There is nothing in the job descriptions of MLA's that says they must take pictures and nowhere does it say use public funds to buy electronic toys for you family yet out Premier walked away after buying himself a $2100 cameras and both himself and his kid laptops. How can he walk away from this? Where is the equal justice in this country.

I guess it's true we are all equal some are just more equal than others.
Bruce DeVenne