Al Gore gives Big-Oil-Government a TV Channel and gets $100m in oil revenue

Imagine the hyperventilating headlines: Global warming denier sells TV channel to Arab Oil organisation, pockets $100 million in oil funds. More proof that giant corporate interests pull the strings on the public debate, and that carbon dioxide causes storms, tidal waves, asteroids, and alien attacks!

Skip the Global Hypocrisy Award for 2013 – don’t even bother sending in entries. It’s over.

Al Gore has campaigned for two decades against the evil vice-like grip that fossil fuel polluters have on the media and politics ““The carbon fuels industry — big oil and coal — have a 50-year lease on the Republican Party” (H/t The Telegraph). So the obvious step was for him to spend seven years building a TV empire in order to sell it to an organisation founded, funded and fused with Big Oil.

Al Gore apparently owned about 20% of Current TV (you’ve never heard of it either, right?).

He’s just sold it to Al Jazeera for half a billion: thus giving the Qatari Royal Family more access to US audiences and earning himself a hundred million or so.

But of course, he really didn’t have a choice, the other large offer coming in was from something far more evil and scary than Big Oil, and that was Big Glenn Beck.

It’s true, Al Gore really did prefer Big-Oil’s point of view:

Other suitors who didn’t share Current’s ideology were rebuffed. Glenn Beck’s The Blaze approached Current about buying the channel last year, but was told that “the legacy of who the network goes to is important to us and we are sensitive to networks not aligned with our point of view,” according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

But Al Jazeera just wants to tell the news, right?

While it makes Mr Gore richer, the deal gives Al Jazeera a way to expand its reach in the US. Despite its record of awards and commendations for its international coverage, particularly during the Arab Spring, it has faced an uphill battle in convincing Americans that it is a legitimate news organisation, not a propaganda tool for oil-rich Gulf states or Islamist militants.

Read more at The Independent

8.3 out of 10 based on 71 ratings

130 comments to Al Gore gives Big-Oil-Government a TV Channel and gets $100m in oil revenue

  • #

    But Jo, consider the position from his angle. The Ex-VP has invested huge amounts of money in carbon trading to see it go down the pan. His speaking engagement income must have plummeted in recent years. “An Inconvenient Truth – The Sequel” is a non-starter as a film. How else is he ever to become a billionaire?

    211

  • #
    john robertson

    All hail Big Al, let us bask in his righteous hypocrisy .

    181

    • #
      connolly

      Gore has demonstrated a capacity to shamelessly work both sides of the street since his entry into politics. A long time shill for the nuclear industry in the US his global warming scare campaign is just the ticket for an energy species that has always fought against environmentalist opposition. The ultimate politicowhore. The article linked is essential reading for niave leftists (Brookes) and convenient idiots (yes thats you Cat).
      http://www.counterpunch.org/2007/03/03/al-gore-the-origins-of-a-hypocrite/

      00

  • #
    Skiphil

    Algore’s original plan was to use CurrentTV to simply run “An Inconvenient Truth” alternating with videos of him with his favorite massage therapists, 24/7, but his fellow investors finally convinced him that it was a losing proposition, so he agreed to sell out to Big Evil Middle Eastern Oil instead. It’s tough to be a sensitive Eco-fanatic in the 21st century, but at least he can get richer(ER) doing it…..

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  • #
    Betapug

    The picture of Big Al (richer than Mitt Romney!) spurning offers from “right wingers”, while trying to beat a $5 million 2013 Obama increase in capital gains tax on his bag of Qatari royal family oil money, deserves a cartoon…. if not a whole “Simpsons” episode.

    Al’s choice of Al Jazeera English “to speak truth to power” and carry on his message will be an interesting addition to US cable. It has been run by Tony Burman, the ex Canadian Broadcasting Corp. news director with ties to Hilary Clinton and Obama administration who both favour it.
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/tony-burman-al-jazeera-and-the-future-of-news/article591164/

    Viewers should not assume that Al Jazeera English (as well as BBC and Reuters English services for Western consumption) are the same as the Arabic language versions. Google machine translation of authentic sites now gives us the magic ability to visit the horses mouth…as well as the other end. Differences in content are often striking.

    I expect Qatar to get more useful leverage from their sponsorship of the new, anti-fracking, anti-capitalist Matt Damon movie, “Promised Land”. More people will see it and the message is more palate friendly.

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    • #
      Roy Hogue

      It has been run by Tony Burman, the ex Canadian Broadcasting Corp. news director with ties to Hilary Clinton and Obama administration who both favour it.

      And there you have it. We are sold out once again!

      20

  • #
    Rereke Whakaaro

    [

    Al Jazeera] has faced an uphill battle in convincing Americans that it is a legitimate news organisation, not a propaganda tool for oil-rich Gulf states or Islamist militants.

    Most organisations that work with information have a number of quality rating systems for each their sources that track their past performance.

    These rating systems include an historical assessment of the “currency”, “accuracy”, “reliability”, and “depth”, among other things. These measures are more or less self evident, except for “reliability”.

    Reliability is an assessment of what was reported at the time of the incident as opposed to what actually happened during the incident when viewed with the benefit of hindsight. That is, how reliable are the early reports from the source.

    None of the US (or UK) media outlets score well on Reliability. Al Jazeera does a lot better on this metric (but not perfect).

    As a result, Al Jazeera looks to be the “one out of step”, and since we now live in a world where consensus trumps fact, it is not trusted, at least in the West.

    Also in the US, the news channels focus on Currency, and rarely do a respective review of past incidents. Each news item must stand on its own, and there is little continuity.

    Al Jazeera also scores higher than most on Accuracy. They tell it like they see it. This can sometimes offend the sensibilities of the western world view.

    The western press tends to paint things in black and white, them and us, good and bad, etc. It saves people doing their own analysis. The conflicting reports that emerge from ongoing incidents run contrary to that, and so appear to be confusing and inaccurate.

    The Western news media, and in particular the US news media, present the news “in context”, through seeking the opinions of experts. Al Jazeera just report the facts, as they emerge, requiring the consumer to join the dots for themselves. Which of these approaches, would you say, would be more open to being used for propaganda purposes?

    That is why the Qatari’s will have their work cut out to show a return on this investment. You can bettcha the other networks will close ranks.

    Al Gore is obviously changing direction. Perhaps he has finally realised and accepted that his version of reality is not going down well with the punters.

    141

    • #
      Greg Cavanagh

      I would never trust anything broadcast by Al-Jazeera. Even if I stood in front of the camara and said it myself.

      85

      • #
        BobC

        I would never trust anything broadcast by Al-Jazeera. Even if I stood in front of the camara and said it myself.

        I’m reminded of what Mary McCarthy said of Lillian Hellman:

        “Every word she writes is a lie—including ‘and’ and ‘the.’ “

        111

      • #
        john robertson

        Well I sure trust them more than I trust AL Gore. There is a chance that Al Jazeera might speak truth.

        62

    • #
      Mark D.

      That is why the Qatari’s will have their work cut out to show a return on this investment. You can bettcha the other networks will close ranks.

      Well my shortwave TV hasn’t been working too well lately so I have nothing to say about the positive attributes of Al Jazz. Yes the other networks will close ranks but in this modern day of limited knowledge voters who cares? All the best news Al Jazz could put out won’t help because a majority of voters are watching 2 1/2 Men. Selling ads won’t be a problem though, they have lots of money…..

      91

      • #
        Roy Hogue

        Mark,

        I don’t believe they will care if it’s profitable or not. They will pour money into it for the propaganda value.

        00

  • #
    Sean

    Eco terrorist news channel merges is Islamist news channel – sounds like a good fit.

    Also, as you point out, the watermelons are really the ones who are funded by big oil. Everything about these clowns is a case of projection, including their slander of calling skeptics deniers.

    201

    • #
      Speedy

      Sean

      Projection. You hit the nail right on the head. What the alarmists hate so passionately about the (claimed) vices of their opponents can be found so firmly entrenched within themselves.

      A little bit of introspection would not be a happy experience for them.

      Cheers,

      Speedy

      71

    • #
      Dennis

      At Daily Telegraph Sydney journalist Piers Akerman’s blog contains important information about the Green Labor alliance in selling Australia out and taking orders from foreigners.

      00

  • #

    I think the Al Gore deal, much like his and the other CAGW oligarchs as they jet around the globe planning how to control individual behavior and economies, just proves how all this is just an excuse for power and money. At someone else’s expense.

    We have global nomenklatura aspirants and Gore is a prime example. The Cold War less ended than it morphed with education as the new stealth method for change from the inside-out in individuals to take advantage of the electoral process. And CAGW is the excuse for the economic control. Why central planning supposedly is necessary again. These clowns wanted the West’s money and have no idea they are consuming the West’s seed corn as they aspire to power.

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    • #
      Rereke Whakaaro

      The Cold War less ended than it morphed with education as the new stealth method for change from the inside-out in individuals to take advantage of the electoral process.

      That bit of your comment, I can wholeheartedly agree with

      71

      • #

        Rereke-

        I use to think that because of what happened and when and how it functioned. But I thought I would never be able to prove it.

        Turns out loss of people, especially educators, were unbelievably specific and what they were doing and why.

        11

  • #
    AndyG55

    “A nice little earner”

    Whatever it takes to keep his mansions open and using energy.

    81

  • #
    Greg Cavanagh

    Al Gore definitely deserves another appearance on South Park, just for this alone.

    101

  • #
    DougS

    My list of super-hypocrites used to be headed by a sequence of UK politicians but one by one they were bumped off top spot by a huge torrent of luvvies and Hollywood celebrity eco loons who lectured us about living the sort of life that they wouldn’t dream of.

    I need a new list now to accommodate Saint Algore – with a title something like :

    “Ultra Super Uber Eco Hypocrites”

    Al’s the only one on it………..for the moment!

    131

  • #
    Bob Malloy

    Hollywood celebrity eco loons,
    Al’s the only one on it………..for the moment!

    2) Ed” Begley, Jr
    3) Leonardo DiCaprio
    4) Matt Damon
    5) The writers of Rizzoli & Isles Demonizing Fracking episode.

    81

    • #
      Roy Hogue

      Bob,

      Give Ed Begley Jr. some credit here. He is the only one who actually lives the life he preaches. I don’t agree with him but he is not your every day Hollywood celebrity eco loon.

      The rest should follow Begley. It might teach them something about their folley if they tried it.

      00

      • #
        Bob Malloy

        I take your view of Begly on board Roy, and concede to greater knowledge.

        Some of the others I mentioned I admire as actors. Of the modern actors I think Damon’s work is outstanding, even DiCaprio in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” was excellent.

        Both the wife and I enjoy Rizzoli & Isles, however the episode mentioned above was poorly written, stretched credibility, it was nothing more than propaganda

        00

        • #
          Roy Hogue

          Bob,

          Like you, I admire the talent of those who have it and I ignore their politics wherever I can. I once tried my hand at some amateur acting and believe me, I didn’t have the talent and it was a tough thing to fake. But I learned to appreciate those who do have it.

          My wife and I watch NCIS like a couple of kids. It’s the best thing out there. But it’s a complete fantasy. The attractive thing about it is the characters and the interplay between them. The writers have just plain fun with them and it makes an otherwise nothing of a series very compelling.

          What I don’t like is the celebrity worship. Why is an actor given so much weight in society? I don’t get it. I can appreciate their talent but they don’t show me any reason to consider them as more than anyone else doing a good job of whatever they do – expert in their field but not outside of it.

          10

          • #
            Roy Hogue

            For best in their field:

            Denzel Washington

            Jodi Foster

            These top my list but you could put numerous others there as well. It’s an individual thing like taste in music.

            00

          • #
            Bob Malloy

            On NCIS I agree totally, my No1 of all current shows. I think i’m inlove with Pauley Perrette, but please don’t tell the wife.

            What I don’t like is the celebrity worship. Why is an actor given so much weight in society? I don’t get it. I can appreciate their talent but they don’t show me any reason to consider them as more than anyone else doing a good job of whatever they do – expert in their field but not outside of it,

            gets 100% support from me.

            00

          • #
            Roy Hogue

            Bob,

            Not to worry! I won’t breathe a word to your wife.

            I can’t say I blame you. Perrette has created that unbelievable character so well that you end up believing Abby is real. I’ve only seen her as herself a couple of times but you would have a hard time recognizing her as Abby Schutto.

            Talent is all it takes. And I certainly never had it.

            00

    • #
      Roy Hogue

      One form of leftwing agenda or another is common among TV and movie producers. On one Law and Order episode they were prosecuting George Bush or contemplating it. I was so disgusted I turned it off. There was no way I couldn’t stay around to see how it turned out.

      00

  • #
    Bob Malloy

    Totally Off Topic.

    Is it only NBN3 TV Newcastle (nine network)or are all tv networks colouring their national weather maps deep red from coast to coast.

    Just watched today show, few temperatures on the east coast mostly forcast below 30 degrees C.

    60

    • #
      Bob Malloy

      correction:

      “few temperatures on the east coast mostly forcast below 30 degrees C.”
      should be: few temperatures on the east coast forcast above 30 degrees C.

      50

      • #

        correction:
        “few temperatures on the east coast forcast above 30 degrees C.”
        should be: few temperatures on the east coast forecast above 30 degrees C.
        🙂 🙂 🙂

        My grammar is worse than your spellings, especially in my more “manic” moments. Commentator Brian H often corrects, such as here

        40

    • #
      Dennis

      I was in Adelaide and then Broken Hill January 2012 and there was a heatwave for more than a week. I travelled to Adelaide regularly in business and have experienced many heatwaves there and in other parts of Oz.

      00

  • #
    handjive

    Hmmm. Big Oil. Big Tobacco. Will Lewandowsky see a conspiracy?

    71

  • #
    Phil Ford

    My list of super-hypocrites used to be headed by a sequence of UK politicians but one by one they were bumped off top spot by a huge torrent of luvvies and Hollywood celebrity eco loons who lectured us about living the sort of life that they wouldn’t dream of.

    Hollywood – indeed the arts and media everywhere – is never short of a ship of fools – useful idiots, all. One might wistfully hope that this latest gaffe by Al Gore, proving once and for all, that the greediest ‘oil-funded’ hog in the room is none other than their own ‘St Gore’, his large, superannuated snout well and truly stuffed in the fossil fuel trough, busy hoovering up all that filthy lucre from oil-rich multi-billionaires. Alas, I fear the message – the ‘inconvenient truth’ if you will – might somehow never get through to such doctrinaire luvvies (all fully paid-up ‘common purpose’ drones) in their self-important, mutually agreeable (and impossibly well-funded) bubbles of moral self-righteousness.

    Still Al’s antics give the rest of us a perfectly honest laugh, whilst at the same time revealing the rank hypocrisy that lies at the heart of all such self-appointed CAGW evangelists.

    101

  • #
    Ace

    You look at that hideously flab-faced jerk and see there a billionaie who devotes his ample free time and resources to making life harder for the rest of us.

    An unmitigated bastard. And Im using the polite version.

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    • #
      Ace

      …on a lighter note:
      For a cavalcade of Gore style %$&*s I recommend a superb book called “Intellectuals” by Paul Johnson (ISBN 1-83212-039-5). He really dishes the dirt on the heroes of The Left.

      For example, dd you know that Karl Marx actually possessed a life-long family slave. She was given to him by his mother-in-law to do housework but he used her to provide sex for his pals, maybe even Engels. No,Im not making this up.

      Tolstoy was another unashamed slave owner.

      92

    • #
      Mattb

      I’m confused I thought this was about Gore not Gina?

      210

      • #
        Truthseeker

        Mattb you are always confused. Yes the original post is about Al Gore.

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        • #
          Mattb

          “You look at that hideously flab-faced jerk and see there a billionaie ”
          you can understand my confusion surely?

          211

          • #
            Winston

            Now, Matt,
            That comment reveals you to be the card carrying chauvinist that you obviously are.

            The reason you repeatedly vilify Gina Reinhardt so much is precisely because she is fat and unattractive. That is a gross and unforgiveable crime for a conservative woman in this era of progressive bigotry. Where entrenched racists in days gone by would engage in nasty, derogatory abuse of unattractive black women (because they secretly coveted attractive black women though mainly as purely sexual objects), so too the “enlightened” small L liberal pseudo-intellectuals currently get their dose of unabashed abuse out of their system by casting aspersions on successful women based entirely on their looks and gender.

            So, if Gina was a thin male conservative-thinking mining magnate, you might deride him, but the depth of your hatred and abuse would not be so intense. If Gina was slim and attractive, you might give her some grudging credit for her achievements.

            Such a hypocrite, Matt. One only needs to scratch a progressive to find a bigot underneath a very thin veneer. Funny how feminism is only applicable when it suits the neoliberal set. Those who see the gains for women in the late 60s being progressively eroded since the late 90s mainly through the influence of the media, need look no further than Matt’s remarks for the reasons why respect for successful women is ever-diminishing. That is the true “glass ceiling”.

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          • #
            Mattb

            lol – I get it so as long as it is a man it is ok to have a go at his flab-face. But not if it is a woman?

            15

          • #
            Winston

            I gave Ace a thumbs down for his comment because I don’t think the overweight should be such objects of derision. Mind you Gore is preaching a doctrine of restraint for the rest of the population, while living the high life himself so it is somewhat germane for Ace to point out his particular brand of hypocrisy.

            But I note you picked Gina not Clive Palmer or Forrest, so my comment stands. The focus by Laborites on Ms Rheinhardt is because they resent her success, particularly because she is female but also because she is fat and unattractive and conservative. The focus on her more so than Forrest or Palmer is purely because of her gender, and you just did exactly the same thing in typical parrot like fashion, reading from the rusted-on’s preprepared script. It is not just the last comment of yours either.

            20

          • #
            Catamon

            The focus by Laborites on Ms Rheinhardt is because they resent her success,

            Wrong, its because she represents the extreme moneyed right wing. I’d resent a skinny bloke who held the same political views she does.

            The focus on her more so than Forrest or Palmer is purely because of her gender,

            Nope, its because she is a right wing nutter who has the means and intent to move into media.

            03

          • #
            Greg Cavanagh

            Catmon:

            Wrong, its because she represents the extreme moneyed right wing. I’d resent a skinny bloke who held the same political views she does.

            Gina is rich simply because she was lucky to have been born to a father who was lucky.

            Your comment regarding her richness is a demonstration prejudice, pure and simple. Whether she earned her money, or was born into it, at least it’s an honest gain. Unlike someone name Al who has lied to gain his wealth.

            20

          • #
            Mattb

            Winston, I picked on Gina as she bobs up as a toipic on this blog, and people are always saying play the man not the ball (ie attack policy/actions/statements not weight issues). I was simply pointing out that you can’t bag flabby faced gore and think it is an outrage referring to fat gina.

            But I do agree actually, being fat has NOTHING to do with anything important. I actually don’t mind Gina TBH. Or Palmer or Forrest for that matter.

            00

      • #
        y

        Have you turned a small fortune into a very large fortune using your own intellect and business acumen? Without wealth creators a nation would be very poor and unable to support the small minded bludgers.

        10

      • #

        According to the New York Post,the employees of Current TV were not at all confused when told.
        http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/current_situation_XLE3W50v6I9Gbyqe6Z4pFP

        00

  • #
    Mattb

    Man owns asset.
    Man sells asset.
    Stop
    The
    Press

    215

    • #
      Truthseeker

      So the hypocrisy is invisible to you Mattb?

      Stop
      The
      Press

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    • #
      Catamon

      Man owns asset.
      Man sells asset.
      Stop
      The
      Press

      Hideous isn’t it!! Maybe its news because he didn’t sell to that looney Beck?

      Cant really see this one driving the outrage meter to new record highs.

      15

    • #
      Brian of Moorabbin

      Man claims “Evil Oil Corporations” are partly responsible for ‘Impending Global Catastrophe’ and vows to do everything in his power to foil their nefarious plot and Save the Planet.

      Man refuses offers from legitimate enquirers because of differences of belief regaring said ‘Impending Global Catastrophe’.

      Man instead sells asset at huge price (and does secret deal to avoid paying taxes on income from sale, despite repeated assertions that everyone should pay their fair share of taxation) to Oil Corporation-backed conglomerate. Unthinking worshippers of ‘Impending Global Catastrophe’ who spend countless hours online trying to vilify non-believers as being “in the pay of Evil Oil Corporations” try to make claims that there are no double standards or hypocrisy at work over this behaviour.

      Stop
      The
      Press

      Fixed that for ya Matty.

      71

      • #
        Catamon

        Man refuses offers from legitimate enquirers

        Man refuses offers from complete looney tunes nutbagger enquirers.

        Fixed that for ya Brian. 🙂

        19

        • #
          Otter

          And people like you wonder why we hold you in contempt.

          31

          • #
            Ace

            Yeah…but, you all missed the obvious:

            In days of old before Matt or his parents were conceived, when something VERY NEWSWORTHY popped up at the last moment before publication the cry “stop the press” meant, stop the PRINTING press so we can add this item….its that BIG!

            So Matts use of “stop the press” meant EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what it seems he thought it did!

            31

          • #
            Mattb

            Um … pardon? I have a hunch I know exactly what the term means.

            12

          • #
            Catamon

            Um … pardon? I have a hunch I know exactly what the term means.

            Yes, but otter and ace are idiots. Get that and much of what they post makes sense from that perspective.

            05

          • #
            Ace

            Matt say she knew what it meant….so, er, why use it incorrectly! Doh!

            Catamon says Im an idiot…but uses a word for his/her ID that I dont think he/she would if he/she knew what it sounds like to they arecalling themselves any educated Englishman.

            …er, whose the idiot?

            (Anyway, catamites aside, you know you’ve struck home with a slave toMarxism when they can only call you names…especially names less shocking than they call themselves).

            00

          • #
            Mattb

            Let’s take this slowly Ace.

            My use was SARCASM.

            *sigh*

            00

        • #
          AndyG55

          “complete looney tunes nutbagger”

          oh, did you make an offer ????

          30

          • #
            Catamon

            Yes, but otter and ace are idiots. Get that and much of what they post makes sense from that perspective.

            So sorry AngryG55, i forgot to include you in that list.

            02

        • #
          Brian of Moorabbin

          complete looney tunes nutbagger enquirers.

          Actually I think you’ll find that Gore et al ACCEPTED the offer from Al-Jazeera Cat.

          00

        • #
          Brian of Moorabbin

          By the way Cat, I note that you condone Al Gore’s hypocrisy in taking money from “Evil Oil Corporations” whilst simultaenously trying to blame them for being responsible for AGW..

          And you still believe the claim that skeptics are the only ones benefitting from “Big Oil” money….

          Comedy Gold Cat. 😆

          00

  • #

    While this Current TV story would (quite understandably) get little or no following here in Oz, either from the media, or with the populace, it is getting coverage in the U.S. because of a couple of pertinent points about this (minor) TV network.

    Evidently, Al wanted to get rid of it prior to December 31, because new Tax laws came into effect on January 1st, making the rich pay more tax, and keep in mind here that Al, (a staunch Democrat) has campaigned long and hard for the rich to be taxed more.

    As it turned out, the deal couldn’t be done until after those new laws came into effect, but he was pretty desperate to have it done prior to the new tax laws coming into effect.

    Matthew Sheffield from the NewsBusters site has a good article on it at this link, and in it he says this:

    Mr. Gore and his partners were eager to complete the deal by Dec. 31, lest it be subject to higher tax rates that took effect on Jan. 1, according to several people who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

    Across at the FSM site, Cliff Kincaid also has a good piece on the sale, at this link. Al-Jazeera wanted access to a large U.S. audience via cable distribution contacts. However, one of those contacts is Time Warner Cable, (TWC) a large entity that carries Current TV. TWC did not approve of the sale, and now will no longer carry Current TV.

    In that Kincaid article, it says this, among other things:

    …..the purpose of the unprecedented acquisition of Current TV is to create a channel called “Al-Jazeera America” and reach a potential audience of 40 million U.S. homes. It claims this will bring Al-Jazeera “into closer competition with American news channels like CNN, MSNBC and Fox.”

    Current TV has a number of (American version of the word) liberal commentators, and their views will have to be tempered now that Al-Jazeera has control, as explained in that article.

    Both articles are well worth reading.

    Gore, as we know so well, is a known CAGW alarmist. Keep in mind that under the Clinton Administration, former Senator Gore, and now the Vice President, was asked by President Clinton to take the Kyoto protocol to the Senate with a view to ratifying it, Bill’s thinking being that Al had influence with the Senators there, being an ex Senator himself. Even though the Republicans controlled the Senate, a goodly portion of them were Democrats, so Al could use his influence in that game of ‘getting the numbers’.

    That worked well. (/sarc)

    The Senate voted not to ratify Kyoto ….. and the vote result. 95-0. Not one vote, even from friendly Democrats.

    After 2007, when our Australian ‘dear leader’ Kevin added that all important second signature for Australia, ratifying Kyoto, the only Country not signed up was the U.S. and even after 4 years of the Obama Administration, it was still not ratified by them.

    So, have a guess who got the blame for the U.S. not ratifying Kyoto.

    Not the Clinton/Gore Administration who took it there first. Not the Obama Administration.

    Yep! Good old George W Bush got the blame for that.

    Tony.

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    • #
      ianl8888

      It is also not at all well known in Oz, that Gore:

      1) was responsible for forcing Roy Spencer (now UAH) out of the NASA climate science group (one can easily guess why)

      and

      2) was a Director of Lehmann Bros when it went done the tube as part of the trigger for the GFC

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    • #
      Speedy

      Tony

      I think that history will give George Bush the CREDIT for staying out of the Kyoto quagmire. All the other “leaders” followed like lemmings.

      Cheers,

      Speedy

      71

    • #

      Oh dear! What rotten luck! (/sarc)

      As the links I mentioned above said, it seems the only reason Al Jazeera wanted Current TV was for access to the Cable Networks that carry Current TV. That access to those cable networks has been consistently denied them over the years, so they now attempted to come in via the back door.

      As Joanne mentions, Al Jazeera, basically a front for The Muslim Brotherhood, has consistently tried to convince America (and the West for that fact) that they are a legitimate News organisation. Monitors have been watching both versions of Al Jazeera, the original and the English language version. The English version is (considerably) cleaned up to appear more moderate, while the original still does what it always has done.

      They were even going to change the name from Current to Al Jazeera America, and would most probably be a further cleaned up version for the U.S.

      Now it seems that, along with TWC, another cable carrier has said that they will also not take the new entity as well, and pressure is being put on a third major cable carrier to dump the former Current TV.

      It might even become a case of spending $500 Million, and missing out on the prize, access into the U.S.

      The Internet has already started calling him Al “Jazeera’ Gore, and it seems that a lot of people who were sympathetic to his CAGW meme are beginning to desert him.

      It would seem that the old adage, “the love of money is the root of all evil”, has come home to roost for Al.

      Talk about crapping in the nest.

      Tony.

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      Andrew McRae

      As Joanne mentions, Al Jazeera, basically a front for The Muslim Brotherhood,

      Joanne did not mention this at all.
      The article in The Independent does not mention the Muslim Brotherhood at all.
      So, just curious, what was your source for that idea?

      Anyhow.
      There are not “Two Als” operating here, any explanation that involves a contradiction is unlikely to be true. The idea this sale has anything to do with global warming is media spin and misdirection, with the resulting apparent contradiction by Gore being an intentionally confusing furphie.

      If you accept the “Arab Spring” was a series of CIA coups [1] [2] designed to install the Muslim Brotherhood into power [3] [4] to keep padding out the “war on terror”, Bill Clinton’s buddy selling a USA TV channel to Qatar begins to make some strategic sense for its domestic propaganda value alone.

      “There’s a fair amount of paranoia when it comes to Al Jazeera,” Robert Thompson, professor of TV and popular culture at Syracuse University, told Reuters, referring to Al Jazeera’s image problem in the US.

      Yes indeed, and now you have a choice of Al Jazeera paranoias! 🙂
      Just ask… cui bono?

      Or maybe Al needed to pay off some carbon gambling debts and he talked up the company value while at COP18.
      We don’t know.

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        Yes Andrew, you are correct, and I see my mistake, and thank you for pointing that out to me.

        Where I mentioned that Al Jazeera is basically a front for the Muslim Brotherhood, that phrase between those 2 commas, should have been placed in brackets instead, as all Joanne mentioned was the part about them wanting to seem a legitimate news organisation.

        That was my mistake and I apologise for that.

        As to the reference for the Muslim Brotherhood, that comes from Dr M Zhudi Jasser, the founder and chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, (AIFD) as shown in the article at the following link.

        Al “Jazeera” Gore Gives Spiritual Leader Of The Muslim Brotherhood A Home In The U.S.

        Tony.

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          JMD

          And there is plenty of hearsay on the internet, some quite convincing, that the Muslim Brotherhood is a front for US designs in the Middle East.

          I doubt all is as it seems.

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        Roy Hogue

        There are not “Two Als” operating here, any explanation that involves a contradiction is unlikely to be true. The idea this sale has anything to do with global warming is media spin and misdirection, with the resulting apparent contradiction by Gore being an intentionally confusing furphie.

        There’s only one Al here — the one who is out to get as much money as he can from anyone he can get it from. 🙂

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          Andrew McRae

          Turns out you are right, but maybe not in the way you thought.
          Another missing piece of the Gore/CurrentTV puzzle is that via his 20% holding of CurrentTV he profited from a law he helped to write, even when he shouldn’t have according to that same law! The law requires TV channel subscribers to pay fees to the channel owners.
          There is apparently an old Forbes article which talks about this, according to Alex Jones. Of course Jones takes the opportunity to tell you some other interesting things too, but the subscriber fee angle is the important fact here.

          Only remaining question is… if this gravy train was so good why did the shareholders sell it to Qatar?
          My comment 17.4 above is still one possible answer.

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    The five hottest years on record in Perth have been in descending order 2012,2011,2010,1978,2009. Do you think a pattern is forming ?

    http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/2012-sure-was-a-hot-one-20130104-2c88u.html

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      Truthseeker

      Alaska has had the coldest year in 30 years. Do you think a pattern is forming?

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      John Brookes

      Don’t worry Maxine, they are going to point out how unreliable the Perth temperature record is, particular since it moved from East Perth to Mt Lawley in the early 1990’s. Mind you, its been getting hotter in Perth since then. And it was getting hotter in Perth before then.

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      handjive

      1. It’s Official: Australia is Drought Free after 10 years.

      2. Drought in Australia a natural phenomenon.

      Yes. There is a pattern and it has nothing nothing to do with humans, carbon dioxide levels, or more taxes.

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    • #

      And this relates to this Post on Al Gore how?

      Tony.

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      Len

      Yes, Maxine. It would appear that there has been a pattern of data manipulations by CAGW supporters to help their grant funding.

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        AndyG55

        Yep, they really have used up all the “adjustments” that they could find even the most spurious reasons for. Will take some serious imagination for them to further “cook” the data.

        But then again, its been about an imaginary issue, right from the very start.

        20-30 years, billions of “research” dollars… and still, nada, zip.. in the way of proof.

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    • #
      AndyG55

      A slight plateau in a very short term record, bought about by NATURAL climate variability.

      Do you have the full temperature record that this is based on?
      Please lets see it…. or is it just using the post 1978 climate data?

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      llew Jones

      Globally, 2012 was the 9th warmest of the last 34 years, behind 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010:

      1979 through 2012, ranked from warmest to coolest:

      1. 1998 0.419
      2. 2010 0.394
      3. 2005 0.260
      4. 2002 0.218
      5. 2009 0.218
      6. 2007 0.202
      7. 2003 0.187
      8. 2006 0.186
      9. 2012 0.161
      10. 2011 0.130
      11. 2004 0.108
      12. 2001 0.107
      13. 1991 0.020
      14. 1987 0.013
      15. 1995 0.013
      16. 1988 0.012
      17. 1980 -0.008
      18. 2008 -0.009
      19. 1990 -0.022
      20. 1981 -0.045
      21. 1997 -0.049
      22. 1999 -0.056
      23. 1983 -0.061
      24. 2000 -0.061
      25. 1996 -0.076
      26. 1994 -0.108
      27. 1979 -0.170
      28. 1989 -0.207
      29. 1986 -0.244
      30. 1993 -0.245
      31. 1982 -0.250
      32. 1992 -0.289
      33. 1985 -0.309
      34. 1984 -0.353

      For a bit more on this from a fairdinkum climate expert prefixed by, “The following comments are from John Christy:”

      http://www.drroyspencer.com/

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      gnome

      Is that Perth WA, Perth Scotland, or Perth USA? Is weather now climate? Is Perth (USA, Scotland or WA) global?

      Does it matter?

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      Ace

      If a sceptic put the same argument, citing local data, the Neo-Environmentalist response would be (fairly) thats weather, not climate.

      The five hottest years globally are scattered over the past several decades. So, by Maxines own argument, no, there is no pattern forming.

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      Ross

      Let’s play Maxine’s little game then. Do these figures from the UK Met Office tell you the same story Maxine and John ?

      http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/01/05/christmas-getting-colder-in-the-uk/

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      y

      Maxine you must be still a puppy, we grown ups know that heatwaves are part of life in Oz and have been long before white settlement. Last year in January ……….. hmmm

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    janama

    Maxine – let’s look at the figures:
    the only record going back 100 years in the BoM data base is Northam

    http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=36&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_c=-20439907&p_stn_num=010111

    you will note that the highest average temperature was reached in 1994 of 27C!

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    • #
      John Brookes

      So I downloaded the Northam mean annual temperature data, and did a 10 year moving average, and a line of best fit.

      And while the highest temp was 18 years ago, there is no denying what the trend is doing.

      I did Perth too, highly unscientifically, just using all the data from BOM from West Perth, East Perth and Mt Lawley.

      The increase for Northam is in line with world temperature increases. But the increase for Perth is much higher, and I don’t think you can attribute it all to the change of weather stations. I think it must be the urban heat island effect.

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        John Brookes

        Help me mods! I did put pictures in the post above, really I did…

        (Imaging button does not work thus you are innocent) CTS

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        AndyG55

        Might be worth finding out when the fence was constructed to the east of the Northam site, and when the pathology lab to the north was built. See if either shows up as a step change. The whole area has also become more urbanised on, presumably, a more gradual basis.

        The use of linear trends is often not warranted .. take the UHA satellite data, two basically zero trend sections separated by a step change in 1998-2000.

        The 1998 step change looks almost like a damped oscillation: up, response down, then back up and level off to a new level.

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        Sonny

        John I’ve sone this same exercise with the BOM data for global temperature anomaly using a 5 year running to find that there has been no global warming in over a decade.

        Therefore there is a very distinct possibility that we don’t know what the “trend” is doing and that the CAGW hypothesis and modeling is completely wrong.

        Cheers

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    janama

    you need to highlight Highest in the drop down menu top left.

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    Geoff Sherrington

    I’m in favour if we get more news reports like this one:

    http://www.geoffstuff.com/newsreportfromIraq.wmv

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    Nice One

    Gore fools oil industry into departing with millions for a TV station no one cares about. That guy is good!

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    Nano Pope

    I prefer Al Jazeeras news over any American outlet, or the ABC or the BBC. Sure they have bias, who doesn’t, but they do seem far more impartial than most.

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      John Brookes

      I agree. I’m told (but I don’t know) that their english language service tends to tone down its anti-western sentiment a bit. But I’ve found it informative, and generally to have a much greater interest in the middle east than other services.

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      Chris M

      From what little I have seen of Al Jazeera it is a refreshing change from the dreary and unrelenting left ‘progressive’ bias of our own MSM. Their journalistic standards seem to be very good, and raise hopes that moderate versions of Islam will ultimately prevail. If their English language broadcasts don’t reflect an anti-Western bias in the Arabic version (I have no way of knowing) that would be an issue of concern.

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    pat

    Speedy –

    what we all need to face up to is the fact the Bushes & Howards were among those who were responsible for seting up the entire architecture for the CAGW scam, despite what the MSM

    TeaParty911: What is Agenda 21?
    President George H.W. Bush called Agenda 21 and UN Charter “Sacred Principles” and called on all Americans to pledge allegiance to these same principles!
    http://www.teaparty911.com/issues/what_is_agenda_21.htm

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    Another Ian

    Check out http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/01/04/friday-funny-8/#more-76950

    and the comments, including

    “Magoo says:
    January 4, 2013 at 9:35 pm
    @DaveG:
    AND Gore also tried to avoid paying extra tax (like a typical socialist) by desperately trying to conclude the sale before the Democrats new tax regulations came in on Jan the 1st.”

    10

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    Joe V.

    The A’ls gotta stick tugethur.
    Al Gore, Al Jazeere & Big A’l companies.

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    Jambo

    The Perth weather gauges should be stuck in the middle of the UWA campus. Will never have a problem with UHI as we will never allow development. Will have a steady stream of undergrads to take accurate readings, and if they don’t I’ll do it in my lunch hour. Any other site in Perth that can guarantee at least another 100 years of a secure, consistent site? Plus if the water rises 3m we will be swimming around the campus which will be noticeable.

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    Steve R W

    I don’t expect anyone to even bother with answering this line of enquiry. But here you go.

    Dan’s List updated:
    Provide evidence that the IPCC only ever predicted a 1.1 C. temperature rise for a doubling of Co2 …
    ———————–
    [REPLY: IPCC AR4, chapter 8, page 631 — referencing Hansen et al 1984, and Bony et al 2006. See “Evidence” (top right col for those full refs.)

    I’ve snipped the litany of fallacious and ad homs. But if you acknowledge that ad homs are unscientific, and that we are not “deniers” you may post one science question at a time and someone here may be kind enough to help you. Ad homs will not be posted unless you can show they affect the atmosphere. – Jo.]

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    Steve R W

    For the record, i posted the link and thread above to highlight what is going on in various parts of the internet. People should follow the Bigfooty link.

    http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/the-carbon-debate-pt-iii.915045/page-66.

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    Ace

    Anyway…back to the topic.

    If an oil empire invades the US media (although this is more like the Dieppe raid than Juno Beach)…(or maybe even Gallipoli) that in itselfis to be regarded a very good thing.

    The issue with Al Jazeera is that its agenda is not oil but Islamic supremacy.

    So what if they succeed at penetrating the US media: ANOTHER good thing!

    Why? Because so long as CNN et al (al) spout leftist generated Islamic Supremacist propoganda and spin folks swallow it. When they see bona-fide Islamic Supremacist mmedia spouting the same guff…then thats one more step towards their slow realisation of how compromised the major media outlets are.

    10

  • #
    Steve R W

    From above.
    [SNIP]
    [I hate to break it to you but you have three errors in the first line. Better not rely on “SourceWatch” again eh? Try reading the peer reviewed papers I refer too. – Jo]

    01

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    janama

    The issue with Al Jazeera is that its agenda is not oil but Islamic supremacy.

    where did you get that idea? Al Jaz was set up by ex BBC/ATV personnel hired by Qatar.

    10

    • #
      Ace

      “BBC/ATV personnel …”

      Huh….is your comment deliberately ironic or unintentionally so?

      As remarked, tools of Islamic Supremacists.

      About the point to introduce an important piece of vocabulary: “dhimmi”.

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      old44

      If it was setup by ex BBC/ATV personnel then its aim is the destruction of Israel.

      30

  • #
    Steve R W

    Credit has to be given to Dan26 AT THIS POINT IN TIME.

    01

  • #
    Steve R W

    Dan26?

    Jo and David, take a look. He or She is doing good.

    http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/the-carbon-debate-pt-iii.915045/

    01

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    Roy Hogue

    Maxine and Brookes — what a combination! More hot air per word than Al Gore.

    40

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    u.k(us)

    “Al Gore gives Big-Oil-Government a TV Channel and gets $100m in oil revenue”
    ===================
    And there were in the forest, those that heard the tree fall.

    00

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    Dennis

    My name changed to Y ?

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    Michael Z

    One more point to this – everyone looks on AJ, and I agree – it is very bad for US, that this horn of aggressive Islamism gets a foothold in US. But I did gave a look on Al Gores CurrentTV web site and was amazed, it is not just left, it is ultra-ultra-ultra left, poisonously anti-Israeli, having not much touch on reality, bordering on being conspiracy theory/hate speech site. That is AL GORE. As movie name says – “Not evil, just wrong”… I’m wondering, if it is not the time for Ann McIlhenny to make a new movie – “Not just wrong – greedy and evil”

    40

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    Rod Stuart

    Here is an interesting twist on this story. Gore’s Not the Only Only One: Murdoch’s “Ikhwannabe” TV
    This book might help join the dots that we frequently discuss on Jo’s blog.

    00