Trump: Cancel Paris, Cut Funds for UN Climate, Save the coal industry

Trump vows to cancel the Paris climate deal, stop funding UN global warming programs and save the coal industry.

Gotta love these plans. No wonder the big-government fans are apoplectic over Donald Trump as he paints targets on their most sacred cows.

In Australia Bill Shorten, potential Prime Minister, called Trump: “Barking Mad.” Shorten, showing his diplomatic talent, was burning goodwill with a potential US president and 45% of voters in the largest economy in the world and our most important strategic ally.

Below, the Trump plans this week: to use cheap energy; to stop trying to change the weather, and finish feeding faceless foreign bureaucracies.

Reuters

Trump: “We’re going to cancel the Paris climate agreement,” he said.

Trump slammed both rivals in his speech, saying their policies would kill jobs and force the United States “to be begging for oil again” from Middle East producers.

Trump said slashing regulation would help the United States achieve energy independence and reduce America’s reliance on Middle Eastern producers. “Imagine a world in which oil cartels will no longer use energy as a weapon,” he said.

Donald Trump Vows to Cut US Funding for UN Climate Change Programs

Trump said he would stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. Global Warming programs.

The Guardian on Trump

In addition to his pledge to pull out of the Paris climate deal, Trump promised to only work with “environmentalists whose only agenda is protecting nature” and to “focus on real environmental challenges, not the phony ones”.

He contrasted this approach with that of Hillary Clinton, whose plan to combat climate change he called “a poverty expansion agenda”. Trump also attacked renewable energy sources, claiming that solar energy was too expensive and attacking wind turbines for “killing eagles”.

Vox – Trump Energy Speech

Coal production in the US has fallen 25%  due to competition from fraking, and EPA regulations.

Donald Trump wants to bring back coal mining by repealing those EPA regulations. “We’re going to save the coal industry,” Trump promised

On renewables:

In his press conference with reporters before the speech, Trump elaborated: “I know a lot about solar,” he said. “The problem with solar is it’s very expensive.”

He also criticized wind turbines for killing birds in California. “Wind is killing hundreds and hundreds of eagles, one of the most beautiful, one of the most treasured birds,” he said. “So wind is a problem.”

“A Trump administration will focus on real environmental challenges, not the phony ones,” Trump said. “We’ll solve for environmental problems, like the need for clean and safe drinking water.” Later he elaborated: “My priorities are simple: clean air and clean water.”

 

9.4 out of 10 based on 167 ratings

325 comments to Trump: Cancel Paris, Cut Funds for UN Climate, Save the coal industry

  • #
    Captain Dave

    Damn, I wish I could vote for him but there is this silly citizenship criteria I fail.

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      Roy Hogue

      Trump says many things. He throws “promises” around almost like confetti. I keep asking myself, why would a man in his position ever want the job? I wouldn’t. It’s the highest ulcer job in the country, stress from one day to the next without end. And he’s already admitted that he buys his way around in politics, no matter the party , just so he can get what he wants. With some money to throw around he can survive nicely no matter who is in office. So is he even serious? And I can’t tell. But if he’s trying to throw the election to Hillary he’s doing a good job of it so far.

      When he ran in 2012 I wrote him off as a bored rich man wanting to play in the game. And sure enough, he dropped out. Now hes back like a bad idea — nothing sticks around longer than a bad idea.

      My hand is now forced and I must vote for him because clearly Hillary is worse. But I don’t like him and would vote for a good serviceable chimp at this point if one was on the ballot. There’s no place left to run to and no place left to hide, so I’ve got to weather the storm as best I can and hope for the best.

      Be glad you don’t have to decide between Hillary and Trump.

      No one should bet that Trump will be a good president of the United States until it actually turn out that way.

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      • #
        Roy Hogue

        I will say one thing for Donald Trump. Whatever his endgame really is, he is a master of using anyone and everyone he needs to use to get to his goal. I’ve no doubt that the ruthless approach served him well in making his fortune. But in a president… …your guess is as good as mine.

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          Greg Cavanagh

          I’m not one to follow or understand politics or motives.

          Its simply guess that he is standing for the same reason ALA sprang into existence here; the utter corruption of the current political parties. The lack of “right thinking” in the current crop of politicians.

          We know the current crop are in it for themselves, weather that is a power trip or self righteousness or simply advantage money.

          Trump comes across as a stirrer, but that isn’t a bad thing in itself either. How would he rule a country? No worse than Clinton or Obama that’s for sure. He’s focused on the American people, so that’s got to be a good thing. No matter how successful he is, he will at least do more good than bad (I think, or hope).

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          • #
            Graham Richards

            There is a God after all . You’re right, even if he tried really hard he still could never be half the arsehole that the “Muslim in Chief in the the Whitehouse” is!!

            Contrary to all belief he cannot simply do whatever he wants. Just like the Westminster system there are checks & balances. I believe he has “arrived”just in time to save the USA from disaster. They will all thank him by voting him back into power at the next election!

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          • #

            Donald is very patriotic; he flies around in his own 757, not an Airbus, and will probably upgrade to a 747 soon. Boeing and its workers must like him.

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        • #
          James Bradley

          Roy,

          You are sure one lucky SOB – at least you have clear options of one candidate actually being worse than the other.

          I think I’ll vote ALA in the senate and Trump in the House of Reps….

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        • #
          TedM

          Please document.

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        • #
          Roy Hogue

          I can give you all at least two fears I have about Trump.

          1. He can’t control his anger. That will not serve a president very well.

          2. He mouths off with very ill advised name calling and other comments to those who manage to anger him in the slightest little degree. That will not serve a president very well either.

          I’ve watched him for the whole campaign. Hardly a day goes by that I’m not inundated by his anger or his questionable remarks.

          Then there are all the promises he makes. Does anyone believe a president of the United States can do all those things without the support of congress? Yet he has angered and frankly turned off many of those in the House and Senate whose support he will need to accomplish his agenda. And are some of his promises even things he can accomplish, no matter what support he has in congress? Foreign governments have much to say about trade deals. They are not a one way street as Trump seems to think.

          That he will probably be better than Hillary I don’t doubt. But he can still do a lot of harm and be better than Hillary.

          And frankly, I don’t see how he can win in November no matter what he does from here on out.

          I think we’re not so lucky to have him to vote for. I just think it’s now necessary to vote for him to salvage what we can (and if we can).

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          • #
            Roy Hogue

            We shall see shortly what the voters think. Until then I can only use my own judgment and it doesn’t look good.

            It would go along way with both me and the voters in general if he didn’t lose his temper again and didn’t make any more improper remarks about women or anyone else. It would also go a long way if he didn’t contradict himself again either.

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            • #
              OriginalSteve

              Every country get the leader it deserves….the older I get, the more I think that is spot on.

              I was reading a Quadrant mag article about Australia vs America – Australia is a much more heathen nation than the USA. Being a Christian in Australia I think will be much more dangerous than the USA, as the convict DNA seems to run deep like a bad smell…mob rule and all that….hope I’m wrong…

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          • #
            Uncle Fred

            Roy, if you think that the Donald “mouths off a lot with very ill advised name calling”, it might be time to compare the Donald with the Billary.

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            • #
              Roy Hogue

              OK! The opposition does it and is foul mouthed as well. I can use that kind of language too but that doesn’t mean I should. I can call people I don’t like all sorts of names but again, does that mean I should? Does one bad act need to be cancelled out by another on the public stage of politics?

              If I rob you, is it then alright for you to rob me? Do two wrongs somehow make it right?

              I’m now 77 years old and I have never seen politics as plain old inexcusable as this campaign has been. And I’m not alone in that observation.

              I’m stuck with a choice between someone I can only call a power hungry [self snip] and someone whose intentions I don’t trust, who makes promises to do anything he thinks those he’s talking to need to hear to get their vote.

              Which one should I trust? I don’t trust either one.

              Trump may turn out to be a good president or he may turn out to be simply flopping around like a fish out of water trying to figure out how to get the job done. For me the old axiom that if it looks too good to be true then it probably isn’t, still works.

              That’s the view from where I sit.

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                average joe

                Roy, desparate times call for desparate measures. And America is in desparate times! The progressive left is in the process of stripping the United States of it’s national identity. We are literally being overrun with migrants both legal and illegal. America is a nation of migrants, but it is different now. The migrants that built America came because they wanted and supported our culture and traditions. They assimilated and became Americans. This has now changed. Migrants now come that hate American culture. They don’t assimilate, rather they try to make America into the place they left. These are not immigrants. These are invaders. And our government is encouraging and supporting them! We have a long line of presidents, some good, others not so good. But they all loved America, our culture, and our traditions. Barak Obama is the first who does not love America. He has worked to fundamentally change it into a UN satellite nation, and to tear down our own national identity. The progressive left supports him. I have watched my once proud and strong nation melt before my eyes, this chimpanzee in chief has nearly destroyed it. Donald Trump wants to bring back our national identity. He wants to make America great again. He has common sense about him, “street smarts” if you will, that is not often found in politics or academia. He wants the green blob dismantled and the EPA neutered. He has said these things for many years. I support him 100%. Forty years ago I would not have supported him, because of his bluster and foul mouth. But times have changed. Right now he is my best chance to bring back the America I love.

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              • #
                Roy Hogue

                average joe,

                You are correct. Trump is now our best hope of restoring the country we both love. I agree with you entirely, except that I wonder about his motivation and his common sense. I can’t figure out why he wants to be president and I’ve outlined why in a comment above. As for common sense, was it to his benefit for him to treat Megyn Kelly the way he did during the first Republican debate simply because he didn’t like the question? Only Donald Trump had any problem with what he was asked and he took it personally, lashed back at Kelly and thereby alienated a whole lot of people whose support he will soon need and may not get.

                I don’t intend to be sticking up for Kelly, she can do that for herself. But his performance was embarrassing and he’s repeated that kind of thing over and over. No matter what he may think, when he lives in the White House he cannot just say anything that comes to mind. He may be mad as hell but he can’t show that anger publicly.

                Think about this. I was a valuable employee to a small company for a long time. And they paid me well. I was mad at some decisions and the way some things were done several times. Now, should I have mouthed off to the boss angrily or handled it more gracefully?

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              • #
                bobl

                Look at it this way Roy, if Trump did what was good for Trump, would that be good for the country? If Hilliary does what’s good for Hilliary would that be good for the country?

                We have had this choice before too. Best to look at where self-interest drives the candidates.

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              • #
                Roy Hogue

                Bob L,

                Are you so sure that what would be good for Trump would be good for the country? Buying politicians to get what you want isn’t my idea of good for the country. It subverts our representative system of government in the worst possible way. We are a nation governed by laws, not by money spread around by the wealthy. There is going to be a certain amount of buying government because that’s simply inevitable. But Hillary and her worthless husband are now accused of providing favors, quid pro quo, for money. Why should I think it’s a good idea to put a man in office who admits to the same offense?

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              • #
                Roy Hogue

                And the degree of the offense cannot mitigate how serious it is. It’s the kind of offense, regardless of degree that I worry about. We cannot mop up the floor in DC with a dirty mop and hope to get it clean.

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            FIN

            Pretty much nailed it Roy. I’m not sure how anyone can really make a judgment about Trump given that he’s had opposing positions on just about every issue you care to name. How in hell do you figure which one he’ll stick to?

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            • #
              Roy Hogue

              FIN,

              This time I have to agree with you.

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            • #
              Mark D.

              How in hell will I support another Clinton?

              Nope I will not. Roy, you must stand back and take a very deep breath!

              You know what Hillary brings. Do not fear what you don’t know Donald will bring.

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              • #
                Roy Hogue

                Mark,

                Fear has its purpose. It tells us when something is not right and we should be careful. I intend to vote for Trump but only because there is no other option left open to me. The lesser of two evils is still evil. Paul is exactly right on that point.

                When wanting to tear down the status quo we ought to remember that there will always be a status quo, a way things are. It’s dangerous to simply wreck a political status quo without knowing what you’re going to replace it with and how you’re going to accomplish the replacement. Obama should have taught us that if less recent history didn’t. And here we are, having fallen for Obama’s hope and change we can believe in without paying attention to all the signs of what he would be in office, we’re now embracing, “I’m angry and I want to make America great again,” without the slightest idea of what that will really bring. What does that mean? Anyone? He speaks of closing the border and making Mexico pay for it. That’s middle school thinking, not adult. He says our trade agreements are stupid. He says not one thing about how he will fix that.

                If you watched Megyn Kelly’s interview of Trump you saw her confront him with things he has said that are objectionable. He mostly denied saying them and then when shown himself on camera saying them he had no response but that kind of s..t-eating grin on his face that say’s, “I wish I wasn’t here,” or maybe, “I wish I was dead.” He never once apologized for his verbal attack on Kelly. He’s a complete crap-shoot and we can’t tell how the dice will read when they stop rolling.

                He may turn out to be a good president. Or maybe not. Hopefully he will choose the right advisors because he’s going to need them. And before we even talk about those things we need to talk about whether he can get elected in the first place. I hope he can. I want him to win. But if I was a betting man I would bet that Hillary will be the next president because that is the present reality.

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              • #
                Roy Hogue

                And as to your question,

                How in hell will I support another Clinton?

                For what it’s worth, your answer and mine are the same.

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          • #

            He is a disruptive influence on all that is wrong with US politics. For good or bad, it’s what’s needed to force the US out of their Leftist rut. We need the same in Australia, but we simply don’t have it.

            Tell me, who would you rather invite to a BBQ, Trump or Clinton?

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            • #
              Roy Hogue

              I have never met either one. They both might turn out to be interesting guests at a BBQ party. And not being able to know them more closely is a part of the problem. Only their public face is seen by the voters and it’s a questionable face to me for both of them.

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            Roy Hogue May 28, 2016 at 12:51 pm · Reply

            “I can give you all at least two fears I have about Trump.”

            Roy, I also dislike the Donald! Since he dismissed the 1980 advisors and hired new spendy advisors, he has not missed a beat! Most impressive! He has the RNC entirely under his thumb, The platform and convention will go the Donald way, or not at all!
            It would not surprise me if the Donald runs until Oct 27 2016, then refuses to proceed. The Witch must now also refuse to proceed, or never be able to take the oath of office in January. The whole world markets would be in complete disarray until February 2017. What an opportunity for profit.
            As others have remarked, The US has not had a functioning government for the last 35 years! What happens if no one in congress is re-elected. The whole lower house has only newbies stumbling about trying to find out where the John is!! Senate is down to 60 old farts wishing the country had a whole Supreme Court willing to suppress the Military Troika! May you live in interesting times!!
            All the best! -will-

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            • #
              Roy Hogue

              Will,

              There is absolutely nothing to prevent Hillary from being sworn in by default simply because she’s the last man standing after the fight. She can be sworn in even if under indictment or in prison. The Constitution does not address this kind of problem at all. And it isn’t clear who would have the authority to make decisions about how to proceed in such a case. It isn’t clear to me how the Constitution could even specify a good resolution of the situation because a new president must be sworn in on January 20, 2017 and Hillary, like it or not, would be the only one to swear in.

              A country or stock markets in disarray is no good for anyone. Of what use is profit when the country could descend into anarchy? I hope we could do better than that but I’m not willing to bet on it. I can’t speak to the situation in Australia, New Zealand, Britain or anywhere else but we have armed gangs in our streets now and they’re not being held in check and in some places the measures that have held them in check have been intentionally removed. We have little more than thugs in political office in many places. A breakdown here would be deadly. Tension is higher than I have ever seen it.

              Just my opinion for what it’s worth but it’s based on actually watching what’s happening, watching what leaders really do and doing a little thinking about the possibilities.

              Whether we have liked the current government or not, we have had a stable government for our entire history as the United States, not because that government has always been getting it right but because it always marches to the results of elections, elections held on predictable dates and presidents, even Obama, have taken office and then left office again when their terms are over; and because we always march to the decisions of the courts, the Supreme Court in particular, like them or not. And it works that way right down to the county and city level. We have never had any doubt about who would take office at the next date for swearing in elected officials. There are no surprises like the one that unseated Abbott. Good, bad or indifferent the decisions of government get followed.

              If that ever breaks down, God help us.

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              • #
                Rod Stuart

                Roy
                In their gaze into the future, Strauss and Howe in “The Fourth Turning” describe the cyclical nature of civilisations. It is nearly twenty years ago now that they prophesied an abrupt confrontation to the status quo. I think Trump represents this stirring in the soul of millions of Americans.
                I am not American. I regard your endeavours to deal with the political cancer that destroys your liberty. It is the same disease that affects all of Western Civilisation, and I support your zeal to see the great left turn defeated. We have armed gangs of thugs in our cities, and ruthless liars in our governments, too.
                However, I suggest that you not despair too much about the tension you are witnessing. I am sure that when a group of colonial delegates (including George Washington of Virginia, John and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia and John Jay of New York) met in Philadelphia in September 1774 to give voice to their grievances against the British crown, that there were many who did not agree. In fact those that did not went North as United Empire Loyalists. It is truly unfortunate that homo sapiens becomes so complacent after a period of abundance that a revolutionary fervor is necessary to restore the right to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. We can only pray that a revolution will be won by the right side.

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            Pat Frank

            Roy, Trump just speaks without a spin-doctor to mealy-mouth his speeches for him. You’re just not used to politicians saying what they actually think.

            With Trump you know what you’re getting, because what you see is what you get. With Hillary Clinton you get political opportunism and with Bernie Sanders you get totalitarian intent disguised as concern for the oppressed.

            Anyone excited by Venezuelan bread lines? Vote for Bernie Sanders, and for Hillary Clinton if hubris and a callous disregard for the truth is your ideal of presidential virtue.

            Whatever else he is, Trump is talking about real and central problems that would otherwise have been spun and buried. I find that a real relief.

            Like others here, I know that Congress and the courts keep any American president in line. Having lived through Bush (stupid) and Obama (anti-American and a race-baiter), I’m not at all worried about Trump. At least he’s patriotic and thoughtfully supports the Constitution. We’ve not had both those qualities in a president in quite a while.

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              Roy Hogue

              You’re just not used to politicians saying what they actually think.

              I wonder why so many are trying to tell me what my problem is. I’ve told everyone what my problem is and apparently no one believes me. But I still think what I think and still for the same reasons I’ve given.

              Please don’t anyone take this personally. It isn’t personal. You’re entitled to say what you think. But I don’t shrink from speaking what I think and unlike the red you know whats, I attach my name to very word. Which leads to the bottom line about both Trump and Hillary — their character.

              For the record, I hope Trump wins in November. But I remain doubtful that he will.

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          • #
            Pat Frank

            Roy, I was just giving you the benefit of the doubt. The fact that other candidates speak only in phrases that have been weighed out by their spin doctors means that one cannot decide what they really think about anything.

            Trump does not use spin-doctored speech. One cannot therefore compare what he says with the public content of Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. The derivations of trump’s speech with their speech have no common basis.

            We have no idea at all what Clinton or Sanders say in private. It’s a fair inference, however, that what Trump says in private is what he says in public.

            That’s a reason to trust Trump more and trust the other two less; approximately the opposite of your view.

            That difference is not reason enough by itself to vote for Trump, clearly. It does imply, though, that Trump is more politically honest, perhaps more courageous politically, too, than the other two.

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          Mari C

          We (USAns, and a few followers from foreign parts) get all caught up in the media spectacle that is the US presidential election. Yet the real power lies not with the POTUS, but with the House and Senate. Those races are smaller, less of a spectacle nationally, can focus on one state, and have far more ability to change what policies will or won’t be followed. THOSE are the elections we should be worried about, and follow. Our governemtn is set up precisely to avoid the POTUS having any real power. To avoid any ONE person, period, in having anything like a final word.

          Yes, the POUTS has some power, and is our Representative To The World, but he/she isn’t the end-all be-all. So no matter if it is Trump or Hillary, the bulk of the changes will come from the House and Senate, not who sits in that oval office. Or, if things follow the normal course, the -lack- of changes.

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            average joe

            Mari, I would point out that our current nearly evenly divided house and senate are nearly powerless. They cannot override a presidential veto. They cannot muster the supporting votes to get much done at all. And so they stand idly by while Obama flouts our laws and our system. I agree that a solid majority in congress that can override a veto is more powerful than POTUS, but right now that isn’t the case. The next president will have a dramatic, lasting effect on America. Supreme court nominees is part of it. But with a divided congress busy fighting each other, the next president will have wide latitude for effecting change.

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          Mjw

          Would it help if he had been a community organiser?

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            Mike

            Maybe community organiser skills could help Trump[ to talk russia in its entirety to move the borders away from the missile shields??

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            • #
              Mike

              It would be a good time to chill out with them nuke weapons. I hear nobody wins… Like Fukushima on steroids if nuke plants start going into meltdown due to nuke psychosis, missles and things. What a mess for all the nuke plants without highly skilled operators. Or fresh running water to chill out the cooling ponds for spent nuke fuel.

              It would be good for community organizers to address this possibility on top of the carbon thing in Paris..

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          • #
            KinkyKeith

            🙂

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          Sane Canadian

          I have to say, Roy, that the possibilities regarding Trump are wide open. He does appear to be a clown (but my American friends and neighbors are screwed this election as the choice comes down to a clown or a crook-Hillary). Of course, some blame can be attributed to the (paid?) protesters who, with every violent protest give him more legitimacy which he would otherwise not have.

          Good luck to the US, I fear you’re going to need it unless someone comes forward as a viable alternative to both parties.

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      • #
        delcon2

        Trump for President – Hilary for prison 2016

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      • #

        The good thing about Trump is that’s he’s already shaken the Establishment. If he become the POTUS, then he will have done even more to break the club that hasn’t done the US any favours. Can anyone really say the Trump will be worse than Obama or Clinton? Can anyone be worse?

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      • #
        Leigh

        RH, it’s not that hard when you look at who and what is in opposition to Trump.
        The minority left side of politics around the world who have an unhealthy control of not just the media but our lives. You only have to ask yourself how they and the global warming brigade manages to maintain so much traction in the face of our protestations.
        Look at the removal of Abbott. It was that left side of politics in not just opposition but he’s own party that saw him “politicly asassinated” ably assisted by the rent seekers around the world.
        Lord Monkton spelt it out months before for those that cared to listen.
        One could gaurante that those who oppose these life controlling restrictions inflicted upon us by this brigade of rent seeking bandits. If the likes of Jo and Watts were given the same resources, we would never have had the absolute con job of global warming foisted upon us.
        Trumps message although crudely expressed sometimes, is cutting through, simply because it promising to do the very same thing the majority of the world is now asking for.
        Get them out of our lives and out of our pockets!

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          Geoff Sherrington

          Leigh,
          While in full agreement with your sentiments, I wonder if you have done research to trace the heads of the leftist pyramids. We know a lot of funding and influence is being used by the left but who are the masterminds? I can, in retrospect, trace movement back to the 1960s when we as a tiny company lost billions from opposition to new uranium mines we found.
          Also do you have any acceptance point, at which the policies you dread become the Democratic majority? How would you measure the numbers, over many different countries with many electoral systems?
          Geoff

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            Leigh

            Geoff, the little bit on the “club of Rome” I’ve read springs to mind.
            And in answer to the question,
            “Also do you have any acceptance point, at which the policies you dread become the Democratic majority?”
            I’d say zero. Those ideolygys rather than policies are being pushed by a socialist minority that his infiltrated every level of authority in society. 
            That persuit of a socialist manifesto that has failed in all its ugly forms throughout history. Would not have me offer it support in any way,shape or form.
            Look at the last election in this country and its massive rejection of just two of the socialists among us “big ticket items” in border protection or in a socialist conquered labor party lack of.
            The other being it’s you beaut save the planet CO/2 tax. It simply as now, will not be accepted. The stealth at which our elected representatives, lead by Turnbul and seconded by Shorten, inflicted another one on us should not be rewarded!
            The world is kicking back and while I’m not exactly a fan of Trumps language, he is having the desired affect on the totalitarian “democracys” right around the world.
            I really do fear for his safety.
            That he and he alone is giving voice to the majority does give one a little hope here but not for at least another couple of election cycles.
            Labor was destroyed as viable party when it’s ever present socialist(read communism) reared it’s ugly head under Gillard and pushed way left of what voters like me grew up with.
            Turnbul a socialist saw his chance to rear that very same ugly socialist head with so many new left leaning faces after an election landslide rejecting that very same socialist manifesto.
            Those “new” socialist faces have served a purpose in again giving us a CO /2 tax and will be gone after the next election.
            It is then the rebuild will start.
            I won’t apoligise for the ramble but you did ask and a couple of words wouldn’t have appropriately explained my anger.

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          Ted O'Brien.

          Leigh. “an unhealthy control of not just the media “…..

          What about the education system?

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            Leigh

            Ted, your not alone in noticing where they have slithered into.
            I jumped up on my soapbox in the reply to Geoff in the post above you.
            If Trump gets the presidency the world will “tilt” back in favor of the majority.And don’t they know it.
            His statement the paris climate accord is gone has really layed down the challenge to them.
            It’s that gaurante he gives that really does have me fearing for him.

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        FIN

        Well I reckon you summed him up pretty well. Who knows what he believes in apart from himself? Tomorrow he’ll say the complete opposite, depending upon who he is talking to.

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        cohenite

        Trump is the best and last hope for the West. Obama has been the worst POTUS ever. He represents the political elite who have thrown Western values under the mess of their great causes, Alarmism, political correctness, multiculturalism and a general antipathy to their own culture. Under Obama’s hand the US, as the leader of the West, has diminished and Russia and China, still despotic cultures, along with [snip] have prospered, race relations are at an all time low, US economics are in taters and he supports AGW.

        Trump has addressed all these issues and run on a platform of support for Western values. All the complaints listed against Trump by the MSM have been false. In fact the MSM is one of the main reasons Trump is winning; the punters are sick of being castigated and blamed.

        [cohenite, We cannot deal with anything that I snipped. I don’t want to snip your entire comment so please steer clear of those subjects. Thanks.] AZ

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          PeterS

          Trump the best and last hope for the West? I wish that were true. Many said the same thing about Obama. Martin Armstrong makes sense when he comments about our governments as below. I doubt Trump can change that even if he wanted too. If he tried he would not last long because there are many powerful forces who will act accordingly.

          We are standing at the edge of a cliff in the middle of an ice age where government is trying to control the media, polls, rate agencies, you name it, all to try to manipulate society to serve their own goals. The bureaucracy today would easily start a war to retain power. That is what they do. We are the great unwashed and collateral damage is part of life for them. We can see a possible bright future if we can really reform government. But they will never surrender willingly. We have to crash and burn to reach the other side,

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            cohenite

            Who apart from the usual elitist suspects thought Obama was the best hope for the West?

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              Mark D.

              Exactly.

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            • #
              PeterS

              Apart from the elitist suspects the vast majority of those who thought Obama was the best hope for the West were the young fools who truly believe they knew (and still do) all the answers yet in reality didn’t even know (and still don’t) the right questions let alone the correct answers.

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      • #
        RB.

        Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

        C.S.Lewis

        Clinton might be of the robber-baron kind rather than a moral busybody but her power comes from the latter. In a way, its even worse.

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      • #
        stan stendera

        I share your concern, BUT we all know what a scumbag Hillary is. There is hope Trump will be better. The policy he enunciated about global warming is entirely doable and will, in the very short run, make him an icon. I wanted Cruz, BUT, because of his personality and pandantism is not, for all his great qualities, electable. Trump is, especially against the career criminal Hillary Clinton. America in it’s history has occasionally found unknowns who turn out to make excellent presidents. Abraham Lincoln, anyone. From a Cruz supporter I have become an entrusted Trump supporter, if for no other reason then he has completely destroyed the pernicious doctrine of political correctness. I would pay money to watch Trump debate Hillary, He will destroy her. That is a good thing.

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        Roy Hogue

        And I don’t give out red thumbs to comments I don’t agree with. What is the matter with people who hide behind anonymity to express their disagreement?

        You have a problem. I do not.

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        • #
          Yonniestone

          I’d never give you a red thumb Roy for simply taking the time to explain your position on Trump, even if I don’t entirely agree with you I’ll fight for your right to say it and the people that responded, it’s how freedom of is speech leads to healthy debate and ideas people.

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          greggg

          You do realise that you get more red thumbs because you complain about it Roy? Thin skin?

          Guys the post topic is not “thumbs”. – Jo

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          • #
            Roy Hogue

            Greggg,

            Believe me, I’ve never cared about the red thumbs in the way you think. I cannot, however, simply stand by when such a cowardly method of disagreement is used against anyone. And I’ve complained in order to let those who bomb comments with red thumbs know what I think of their character.

            If I disagree with someone, I say it with my name attached to it, as I’m doing now. This isn’t personal but I do disagree with you.

            Roy

            Jo, I have to answer this.

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        • #
          Annie

          You have an absolute right to your opinion on Trump Roy. I hope things work out otherwise than your fears but I think your choice in the USA is as bad, if not worse, than ours in Australia.

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      • #
        What Class?

        Trump’s proven to be better than all the Republicans he’s defeated. They were beholden to the king makers – the faceless men who represent nobody and look for power for its own sake. The same goes for the Democrats. Sanders is a socialist. How on earth did one of those get into the race for POTUS? It’s beyond comprehension. Hillary should be up before the beak not running for president. She’s being pushed by the left’s faceless men. The whole structure is rotten. Politics has been pushed so far to the left by academia and the media that Marxists are now considered as moderate and what was once centre right is now slammed as extreme.
        Trump has paid his way into the competition. He owes nobody. He has his own agenda. So far he’s talking to the people about what they want and need and that’s what all the others have refused to consider. He can’t possibly do a worse job than any of the other puppets and crims.
        I hope like hell that he’s elected. Because if he is, he’ll cause massive ructions in the establishment and that can only be a good thing. He will also have the support of the majority of the real people. We want to live free prosperous lives. He knows that. Imagine the strife a Clinton administration will cause the western world. She’ll continue on down Obama’s path to perdition and take your nation with her and consequently the rest of the democratised civilised world.
        I think the current state of play is rather exciting for the little people. They’ve got somebody who speaks truth plainly, knows how to work a crowd, doesn’t put up with bullshit and wants to fix things. He’s a circuit breaker, loose cannon, catalyst, unknown force, stirrer etc. Congress will try their damnedest to stymie him as all his enemies on both major parties have already tried.
        Since Abbott was knifed we’ve been in deep trouble in Australia. We desperately need somebody like Trump. Our options are poor.

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        Duke

        Trump never ran for President in 2012. He has been toying with the idea of running for many years but decided against it in 2012. Trump absolutely trounced his rivals for the GOP nomination this year because he speaks directly to the people, he’s genuine, and he cares deeply about his country. Some of the follows of his rivals for the nomination (especially those of Ted Cruz) still seem to harbor an ugly animosity toward him. Sore losers I guess.

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      • #
        Gary Meyers

        The biggest reason to vote for Trump is Hillary Clinton! Besides that, Trump actually loves his country and is a true patriot!

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      • #

        Barking mad was also Ronald Reagan derided for being an actor. Trump promises to put budget in order and how is that for being a confetti mad.

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      jim2

      Well, if you can cross the Southern border of the US, you can get free goodies and probably even figure out a way to vote. Go for it. We need more immigrants like you 🙂

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      jorgekafkazar

      Yes, unfortunately, since you’re not a US citizen, you can’t vote for Trump. You can only vote for the Democrat candidate. A short trip into the country may be necessary. Bring a dry shirt in a Ziploc bag.

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    • #
      mike restin

      You must not be a progressive…They don’t need no stinking voter ID.

      40

    • #
      WhaleHunt Fun

      The current President, a Kenyan, also fails it, but being a lefty, the rules don’t matter.

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  • #
    Don

    The problem with Trump is that he doesn’t seem to have any principles. He says what he needs to say to win. He said he favors increased ethanol mandates. Does he really? Who knows! Does he really believe Global Warming a “hoax perpetuated by China”? Nobody knows!

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    • #
      Joe Lalonde

      Don,

      Donald Trump has been walking through a mine field of horrible mainstream publicity due to much propaganda to prop up Hillary Clinton. Every Western Leader wants him crucified along with the Whitehouse who’s decades of promises to get elected and failing on their promises for their own agenda and profitability.
      Any previous politician would be hightailing it out…The more negative and hostile the politicians and media are, he shows how corrupted they are and gets higher support.
      The US economy is on the brink of a global economic collapse and structural collapse due to trying to control the world with debt and monetary policies that force countries in place.
      Trump wants that nonsense cut out and back to looking after the US and not looking after the world.
      Certainly has President Obama doing alot of explaining and visits…

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      Rereke Whakaaro

      He says what he needs to say to win.

      You make him sound like a politician … oh, wait … !

      And as for the Chinese, I have attended Sino-Pacific Trade Promotion functions, where an inordinate number of Environmental NGO’s were represented. Perhaps they were all there for the rice wine.

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    • #
      michael hammer

      What I see is that the left has become more and more pervasive and infiltrated our society more and more. It has now reached the point in Australia where our political choice comes down to choosing between 3 left wing parties. The choice we really want is no longer on offer eradicated by the left. No matter who wins the left has won power again. Even voicing thoughts not of the left brings criticism and condemnation most people are not prepared to accept.

      I suspect many private citizens feel the same, that the left of politics and its political correctness is an ever tightening noose around our collective necks. Then along comes Trump saying in effect its OK to reject political correctness, its OK to voice anti left thoughts its OK to say what you think in fact I will say it for you. I think that’s the source of his immense popularity.

      To those who worry about what sort of president Trump will be ask yourself one question, what is more important right now, a good stable president or breaking the every increasing choke hold of the totalitarian left. I suspect his supporters have answered that question for themselves. After all, if he turns out to be bad its only for one term and America has survived many bad presidents in the past. Then again he does not govern alone, he will have many advisers and advocates from many areas including the military as well as diplomats. They will curb the worst of his excesses if necessary.

      Which is the greatest evil right now?

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    Harry Passfield

    Sadly, if Trump gets his backbone from the same shop as Call Me Dave, he’ll renege on the promises within days of taking office.
    But, if he doesn’t….goodbye hockey stick!

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      Joe Lalonde

      I don’t think he will break his promises.
      You don’t put your life and family in danger and through the political mud to be elected this way.

      You can expect that if the cronies are still elected in Congress…They’ll try to strip the power from his office that for decades now, the President should never have had.
      I think who ever tries, then Trump would have many media press conferences to show the public what the politicians are up to…
      Makes for an interesting new Presidential…

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      • #
        pattoh

        Joe

        Do you reckon he will be able to survive the will of the CFR/TC & their instruments?

        If the powers which are attached by declaring War on Terror, Poverty etc are put back in the box it would be interesting as to how he could bring his will to bear over a CFR dominated bureaucracy & judicial system.

        I guess at least he may be in a position to stack a few committees & hearings, but will need to “kill a ( operation)mockingbird” to get his message out.

        Interesting times for the whole world!

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        Rereke Whakaaro

        It is going to be an interesting ride. Who is organising the pop-corn?

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        • #
          sophocles

          Plenty of beer in stock, popcorn by the bucketfull. It’s going to be an interesting election, even if I am watching it from afar.
          Sometimes those are the most enjoyable ones, when I don’t have any investment in it.

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          • #
            philthegeek

            even if I am watching it from afar.
            Sometimes those are the most enjoyable ones, when I don’t have any investment in it.

            This is definitely one to watch from afar. 🙁 And i’ll make sure all my super is in cash before the election.

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            • #
              ian8888

              Yes …

              I did that in 2013, before that year’s election.

              One small advantage to aging, which of itself has nothing to recommend it apart from the alternative.

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  • #

    I am praying that Trump can defeat Clinton or Bernie and begin the downfall of the Global Warming/CAGW hoax on a Worldwide scale. Short of another Ice Age, he is our best hope for sanity.

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      nt:
      There are only a few countries where the Authorities are keen on AGW. Sweden, Canada, the UK, France, the EU bureaucracy (a self governing state) and unfortunately Australia. (We have the ‘choice’ at the coming election of voting for those committed to being stupid and those wanting to be worse). Everybody else is merely paying lip service, if that. 1200 new coal fired station planned or building hardly shows wide enthusiasm.

      But you are right, Trump will kill the hoax. Firstly by cutting funds, not just to the IPCC but to the various ‘scientific’ sources of propaganda. Then he will slash the EPA whose public reputation, except to the Left, is poor. That alone would be enough to end the hoax but when he denounces the Paris Accord lots of countries will withdraw using Trump as an excuse. Go Trump.

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      King Geo

      “I am praying that Trump can defeat Clinton or Bernie and begin the downfall of the Global Warming/CAGW hoax on a Worldwide scale. Short of another Ice Age, he is our best hope for sanity”.

      Nicholas the Ice Age [IA] is a long way off however the LIA is due mid/late next decade (SC26 onwards). It is this natural solar event that will kill off the “Global Warming/CAGW hoax”. Hopefully Trump will prevail but the MSM will make it difficult. I would be praying for the imminent LIA to be as severe as the “Maunder Minimum” and last a similar period, ie ~ 7o years. If that doesn’t kill off the “Global Warming/CAGW hoax” then nothing will.

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  • #
    James Bradley

    For what it’s worth – Trump is doing what he has always done and will always do in the future – he is employing the best advisors in the world, he is acting on that advice, and he is changing the minds of the people who count to smooth the way.

    The PR people who advise him about what to say and what to do have hit every mark in this campaign – Trump is right – he could shoot someone and still increase his voter support.

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    • #
      Rereke Whakaaro

      … he is employing the best advisors in the world …

      He is not employing me, and I am not sure that is has employed you either, James.

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      • #
        AndyG55

        And he has certainly missed out on RW.

        So you see, the statement, “he is employing the best advisors in the world”….

        is manifestly incorrect 🙂

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      • #
        James Bradley

        Rereke,

        I’m not sure I’d be the right person for the job… and I think you’d probably be a bit like me – it just takes a whole lot less energy to smack [[the foolish]] than it does to convince them.

        [Editorial discretion applied.] AZ

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  • #
    Richard Ilfeld

    The election here, and a potential Trump presidency, may be problematic. What is indisputable, however, is that things heretofore inadmissible in political conversation are being said by people running for office. These are in the category of “politicians all lie and pander, and we know the truth, and it is only spoken between friends over a beer”. Is there anyone who doesn’t know why the free world has sucked up to a bunch of unpleasant autocrats in oil producing states? The simple act of proclaiming such,in these terms,in the public square, is a great service. “The climate change folks are eagle killing [snip]” is another. The difference between coal and a diamond is pressure and it is good to see pressure applied.

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    doubtingdave

    Why so much negativity from some of you , come on folks , we sceptics have been hoping to get someone into a position of real power for years , they don,t come any more powerful than POTUS , a Trump Presidency could be our El Alamein , as Donald would say we would begin to WIN WIN WIN , and yet you dont want him because you dont like his image or personality or he’s not religious enough for you like good old Ted Cruz was , give me a break .

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    • #
      delcon2

      Cruz was and always will be of the “Establishment”The fact that “The People could see that and yet some here couldn’t,makes me wonder.

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      • #
        el gordo

        Cruz is of the Establishment and he understands the science, the Donald doesn’t have a clue on that score but providing ‘clean and safe drinking water’ for all the world should be enough to get him over the line.

        I would have preferred Cruz to take on Hilary, because no matter what Donald says on the subject of climate change won’t be believed in the wider world. So anything he says and does from here on will be regarded as the utterings of a dangerous fool and of course the Chinese dictatorship say its a good example of democracy in free fall.

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        • #
          toorightmate

          I do not agree with “hasn’t a clue”.
          He has come a long way for someone who has ALL the mainstream against him.
          The mainstream media quotes everything possible OUT OF CONTEXT and they also dig up the worst photographs they can find to portray him in the worst possible light.
          He is now up to 45% in the polls. Do you honestly believe that 45% of the USA are fools?
          His likely opponent is an obnoxious crook.

          AND – please, please support ALA on 2 July.

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          • #
            PeterPetrum

            Tooright! You could have substituted Abbott and Australia into that post and it would still be spot on! Ohfor a Trump here; the ALA is our best bet at the moment but they have a huge uphill battle to be recognised by more than just us who populate the conservative blogs.

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            • #
              Lance Hart

              Sadly, here in the NT we appear so far to have few, perhaps even no choices of who to vote for in both upper and lower houses. ALA does not have a candidate and for the life of me I cannot find a list or details of proposed candidates for the electorate. If any of the readers here are able to point me in the right direction I would be grateful. The electorate is Lingiari and at this point I can only see one option, waste my vote in both houses with a blank form.

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            • #
              mark

              ‘just us who populate the conservative blogs’

              It is important for small ‘l’ liberals to remember that theirs is not a conservative doctrine, but perhaps the most radical doctrine ever! And one that over the last 150 years has produced the most wealth and well-being ever! In Australia, the alliance between conservatives and liberals has blurred an understanding of what liberalism is. It is good, therefore that we have a new term, ‘libertarian’, to remind people (including members of the Liberal Party).

              For United States readers, in Australia the term ‘liberal’ (when applied to a person or party) refers to those who want, or profess to want, government to get out of the way of private economic endeavour and private activity generally – the original meaning.

              J.S. Mill is the key theorist, and the humanity of his writings (which reflect the manner in which he lived his life) make him a joy to read. See at the Online Library of Liberty:

              http://oll.libertyfund.org/groups/46

              The Autobiography is a great place to start, followed by ‘On Liberty’. During the 1860s he was considered the most influential person in Britain.

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          • #
            Glen Michel

            Will be manning a station outside our Town Hall urging people to vote same. ALA- the best option in the senate

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          • #
            el gordo

            ‘He has come a long way for someone who has ALL the mainstream against him.’

            Trump is a populist, this from wiki.

            ‘At its root, populism is a belief in the power of regular people, and in their right to have control over their government rather than a small group of political insiders or a wealthy elite. The word populism comes from the Latin word for “people,” populus.’

            In this I have no problem and what he says on AGW is correct, but unlikely to have an impact outside the US unless he articulates what climate change is all about.

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            • #
              Ross

              el gordo

              I have no trouble with that definition of populism and would embrace it. But the MSM’s use of the term is in very derogatory way and that is why they apply it to Trump.
              If you look at the video linked by handjive, just below, it shows that Trump was thinking ( from the big picture perspective) in much the same way 25years ago as he does now.

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              • #
                el gordo

                ‘But the MSM’s use of the term is in very derogatory way…’

                The people have lost faith in the MSM so its unlikely to change views, this popular uprising is unstoppable.

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            • #
              toorightmate

              15% to 45% is a L O N G way

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        • #
          Mari C

          Cruz pulled too much religion into his campaign. And no matter how much science he understands, his fixed belief in the power of God and his need to share it with (force it on?) the “masses” was a nail his coffin. I much preferred Rubio, for all his faults (as the media presented them, at least) as my own party left me with 2 people I cannot, in good faith, endorse. Hillary – shorn of the eco-green-lefty preaching, would be tolerable. She has, at the bottom, a pragmatism that allows her to bypass the popular, and personal. But Bernie? He offered a lot of pretty pictures, but not one of those pictures has a decent base – mainly, who is really going to pay for all the wonderful things our government should or could be doing for the masses? Tax Wall Street? Since when has that ever happened? What would be the economic repercussions? Ditto all his other “tax the rich” ideas. Yeah, there are a lot of people paying too little in taxes, but aside from stratifying our already screwed up society, what is he offering? Fairy tales. Hillary offers about the same, but at least she isn’t adding glitter and fairy dust.
          Cruz scared me the most. Bernie makes me weep. Hillary is a shrug, mostly ennui. Trump is self-centered, self-absorbed, mercurial. They all love their Country, I do believe that. But Trump has found a winning recipe, and by pandering to the crowd, he is pulling in the votes. He knows – he’s watched – what winning a presidency entails. And he’s playing all the angles to get there.

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    • #
      FIN

      Win what?

      13

  • #
    Paul

    I am a Libertarian at root, so I don’t much like Trump. I’m not entirely sure where to go with these statements of his, I’m not convinced they can be trusted. There’s always the argument of lesser of evils, but that seems to perpetuate some form of evil no matter where you go.

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    • #
      Roy Hogue

      And again the red thumbs of disapproval show up when the truth is spoken.

      Evil is evil, even the lesser of two. 🙁

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    • #
      Analitik

      If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and no measures you want to vote for … but there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. In case of doubt, vote against. By this rule you will rarely go wrong.

      If this is too blind for your taste, consult some well-meaning fool (there is always one around) and ask his advice. Then vote the other way. This enables you to be a good citizen (if such is your wish) without spending the enormous amount of time on it that truly intelligent exercise of franchise requires.

      Robert Anson Heinlein

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      • #
        Roy Hogue

        For a long time my vote has been against someone. I’ve admired Heinlein’s wit and his writing. But that’s irrelevant. Why can’t I find something to vote FOR, even just one time? Is there no common sense left anywhere?

        In my opinion Paul’s remarks are more insightful than anyone else here. And we’re in trouble when voters must vote against rather than for.

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        • #
          Analitik

          If you guys hate the options so much and aren’t satisfied with voting against the most offensive options, then you need to get involved in the party preselections or the legislature process yourself.

          30

          • #
            Roy Hogue

            For the record, I’m already far more involved in a local fight against the county than I ever wanted to be. And I cannot even be Superman here, much less Superman to the whole country.

            Also for the record, it’s clear to me that failing to follow George Washington’s admonition to not form political parties has caused us more grief than Washington ever imagined. I suspect it was inevitable but nonetheless, political parties are at the heart of our problem. They distract from the question, who will do the job best, and substitute, who will follow the party line most conscientiously? Being beholden to the party snuffs out individual thinking every bit as well as water snuffs out a fire. I’ve been watching that happen for a long time.

            To be fair, not everyone is in the party’s pocket. But far too many are.

            21

            • #
              Roy Hogue

              I could send you a sample of the Republican and other voter guides I receive every year if you want to see them. They burn well in your woodburning stove if you have one.

              20

              • #
                KinkyKeith

                Hi Roy,

                You may be interested to know that here we are not allowed to burn things in woodburning stoves.

                In areas where such a practice is possible it is looked down upon and discouraged.
                Burning things here is a very big “political” issue.

                I remember you commenting, some years ago, on your political involvement.
                It’s good to see you are still active.

                That George Washington fellow made a very good point about political parties.

                We are all working for a better world but actually getting there is hard.

                KK

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              • #
                Roy Hogue

                I can’t legally burn anything here anymore either. If you already have a fireplace you can continue to use it and I could burn the stuff in the fireplace. Unfortunately I don’t have one — don’t really miss it either. But it’s now contrary to the latest state building code to put a fireplace in new housing. So there will never be another fireplace built in California — something about that climate change thing I think.

                Unfortunately there are fireplaces around the neighborhood and when it’s cold and the conditions are just right, the smoke hangs around at ground level and everyone might as well have that nice warm fire in the middle of their living room. So I sometimes wish there weren’t any fireplaces just because of the air pollution that doesn’t dissipate as it ordinarily would.

                My paper shredder gets to eat most of the stuff we get. It nearly all comes with my name or my wife’s name on it and we don’t recycle or trash anything that identifies us, where we do business, where we bank, anything identifying at all. I don’t know what the recyclers think of the bags full of confetti they get from us but they don’t complain. We’ve worn out several shredders. The bearings are bronze bushings and they don’t provide for lubricating them. So after a while they seize up and that’s the end of the thing. And now they’re making them so that you need some sort of special tool to open the thing up and you need permission from god to buy one — talk about CYA. A better shredder at a lower price might be a good business adventure for someone with some capital to fund the startup. But I wish I could just light a fire. 🙁

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    • #
      Another Ian

      Paul

      By the red thumbs flack you’re right over the target! Bombs away!

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    • #
      Jaymez

      Paul, I’m not sure I understand you. I would have thought Libertarians would support Trump. Did you mean to say you are a Liberal at root? What statements of politicians can ever be trusted? Obama was going to close Quantanamo Bay in his first 12 months – it’s still open. All politicians use excuses after they get in for breaking promises. So in the US they seem to have a choice between three people:

      Trump: Potentially a loose cannon. Which is what they though Reagan would be, but he turned out to be the best of the modern day presidents. We know what he is against, increasing debt, unfair trade deals, allowing all 11 million illegal immigrants to stay in the country. To put that into Australian pro rata terms we would be talking about having 800,000 illegal immigrants in the country! He wants to make the borders more secure and better screen immigrants, particularly Muslim immigrants who have caused some of the worst terrorist attacks on US soil. And he wants to stop spending money on the climate scare crap and stop sending money to the bloated UN.

      Clinton: Even many of her supporters don’t trust her and don’t believe her, but they will vote for her because she is a woman and “it’s time we had a woman in the oval office”. [I thought Bill had already!]
      http://www.salon.com/2016/05/28/this_is_why_people_dont_trust_hillary_clinton_email_scandal_is_a_reminder_that_her_guardedness_is_ultimately_self_defeating/

      More than a dozen Clinton ­allies identified weaknesses in her candidacy that may erode her prospects of defeating Donald Trump, including poor showings with young women, untrustworthiness, unlikability and a lackluster style on the stump. Supporters also worry that she is a conventional candidate in an unconventional election in which voters clearly favor renegades.

      Among other potential problems identified by supporters: Clinton’s unpopularity with white men, questions about whether her family philanthropic foundation helped donors and friends, and lingering clouds from her tenure at the State Department, including her private email system, the Benghazi attacks in which four Americans were killed and her support for military intervention in Libya.
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/even-supporters-agree-clinton-has-weaknesses-as-a-candidate-what-can-she-do/2016/05/15/132f4d7e-1874-11e6-924d-838753295f9a_story.html

      It is very difficult for Clinton to paint herself as an average American concerned about the working class when her husband was being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do speeches and in organisations which then later received valuable concessions or aid through the State Department when she was in charge. She lies about everything from what she knew about Benghazi, what she did with her private email server and supposedly running from a helicopter having to dodge sniper bullets. She laughed about getting a known rapist off his charges as a lawyer, she denigrates any of the many women who have alleged sexual harassment or impropriety against Bill, but claims to be a great feminist.

      How can the US elect as President someone who is currently being investigated on a number of federal matters? If she was a Conservative, she wouldn’t have got this far.

      Sanders:America’s finances are in a diabolical position. He has no intention of addressing the debt of deficit. He is promising lots of free stuff and promising to increase taxes. He is a self proclaimed Socialist. But ask him what he thinks went wrong in the socialist government in South America and he doesn’t want to talk about it. See here: http://hotair.com/archives/2016/05/27/stump-the-socialist-bernie-would-rather-not-talk-about-venezuela/ Sanders is 73 and been a lifelong politician and has achieved nothing of significance. Only 4 sponsored bills were passed. Two were to change the name of two federal building in honour of local heroes. One was to allow charity bins to be placed on federal property, and the other was about some water supply bill. That is the extent of his achievements.

      But whoever is elected out of these three, I predict they will be one term presidents and in fact may not even see out their term. Whoever wins, 4 years in the world’s top job will age both of them and I don’t expect either to be a viable candidate for a second term – something I haven’t heard any commentator mention.

      The vast majority of American commander in chiefs have fallen between the ages of 50 and 60. Presidents on the older end of the spectrum (60 and over) have been infrequent.
      Ronald Reagan was the oldest past president and was 69 at inauguration. He managed two terms, but was clearly unhealthy for a large part of his second term. Getting shot 69 days into his presidency didn’t help.

      The second oldest president was William Henry Harrison inaugurated in 1841 at age 68 and died after only 5 weeks and 1 day in office. Some say pneumonia, but it typhoid was the most likely cause of death.

      The third oldest was James Buchanan, who was inaugurated in 1857, at age 65, and is infamous for his pro-slavery stance. Some say he may have been America’s first Gay president, but that is speculation because he never married.

      The fourth oldest president was George HW Bush who had two terms as VP under Reagan before his single term presidency which started at age 64, was ended by Bill Clinton.

      Zachary Taylor—the nation’s 12th president—is the fifth oldest, as he was 64 years old by the time he took office. His stint as president was short-lived as he died 1.33 years into his presidency due to an intestinal ailment.

      So apart from Ronald Reagan, there has never been a two term president who was 64 or older when elected.

      And two of the five presidents who were older than 64 died in office. So I reckon that with Hillary 69 and Trump 70 at inauguration, there is better than a 40% chance that they will die during their first term and whoever is their running partner will become US president. So that choice is a really big deal.

      Also based on this data, there is only a 20% chance that whoever wins this election will go on for a second term. Their VP as an incumbent would be in a great position to run for the presidency at the end of the term because that person will be a known quantity but they will be able to take credit for anything good achieved in the next 4 years while distancing themselves from anything bad – as they were only the VP.

      So I will be super interested in who the running partners are, but the US Media has seemed to overlooked this issue completely.

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    handjive

    25 years ago: Trump & Oprah

    – Roll the tape @1 minute for Trump’s answer on running for president.

    Trump energy speech: “Obama allowed more oil to flow thru Iranian pipelines than would have flowed through Keystone XL”.

    – Roll the tape @11.00 for some juicy bits.

    Always a good sign when warmunists wet themselves; Mashable: Trump on Climate: He’s Worse Than we First Thought!

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      TedM

      Thanks for the link “handjive”. I think we will find that there is a lot more depth to this guy than his exterior and rhetoric suggests.

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    Donald Trump might be right and well-advised. But he is utterly ruthless, which makes enemies. He may win the Presidency but will end up powerless to push through his mandate as that requires competent allies. Trump will end up with a Cabinet of sycophants, or those who will plot revenge. Margaret Thatcher understood the need to win allies, particularly with many she disagreed with. Thatcher’s downfall occurred after alienating many of her long-term allies, particularly Geoffrey Howe and Nigel Lawson. Trump managed to alienate many potential allies in the Primaries.

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      Robk

      I largely disagree Kevin. I think Trump negotiates from a strong position. If the other party wants a deal, they will know his starting position. If he wants a deal they will not know his machinations. He is a bit frightening to many but the only hope on offer for the US and the west. A pity it’s come to this. It will take a special kind of politician to get us out of this mess and I don’t think Hilary is up to it.

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      Peter C

      Trump will end up with a Cabinet of Sycophants, or those who will plot revenge

      The President does not have a Cabinet, as far as I know.

      Are there any true Allies in politics?

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        F. Ross

        Re: President’s cabinet
        From:
        https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/cabinet

        “The tradition of the Cabinet dates back to the beginnings of the Presidency itself. Established in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, the Cabinet’s role is to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each member’s respective office.

        The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments — the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General.”

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        Roy Hogue

        The cabinet does indeed have a cabinet, Peter. And he needs people who will implement his policies.

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          Roy Hogue

          And the first cabinet in U.S. history to have its own cabinet. And that’s what happens when you try to talk and chew gum at the same time.

          Duh!

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      PeterPetrum

      Kevin, Trump has to win first. The only way he can do this, in an environment where there is little to pick between parties peopled by look-alike politicians, is to be different, tough and undeterred by the opposition, even from his own side.

      He has done this extremely well. I have said, right from the start, that once he has the game in the bag, he will change and become more “rational”. He is already showing signs of this, but he still has to demolish Clinton, so expect more of the same, but in a different direction.

      In the meantime, he will start to firm up on policy, such as energy, which he has already identified as a major winner for him.

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        Graeme No.3

        PeterPetrum:

        Try to think ahead to March 2017. The Treasurer of whichever party wins has just decided to screw down with the ETS snuck through secretly by C. Hunt in Dec. 2015.
        If Trump wins then he will kill AGW stone dead. Imagine the Australian Treasurer’s face, better still imagine the face of Turnbull or Shorten.

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    There is going to be a battle royal for the POTUS, essentially the establishment versus the disenfranchised. There is little doubt whose side the media is on, but Donald Trump seems to be pretty media savvy so far, and hasn’t paid for much coverage.

    I thought Bill Shorten would have had more sense than to join the bandwagon of those criticizing Trump on the basis of various media reports. His own climate change agenda is based on politics and little fact. Donald wants to make America great again; Mr. Shorten wants to put Australia further in the red. Labor’s policy of 50% renewable energy by 2030 is not plausible since around 75% of the time there is need for oil/coal/gas back-up generation to keep the lights on, apart from a myriad of other associated problems.

    If Donald Trump is elected it’s probably the end of the Paris agreement since Russia doesn’t support it and the big emitters, China and India, are only paying lip service to it, leaving the Europeans, the Maldives and us. Interestingly, Canada has changed its stance due to the politics, but the US and Canada share the same weather patterns.

    The stakes are very high on this issue and one can expect an enormous media campaign against Trump. Yesterday, Dr. Steffen was on the ABC talking about references to climate change in Australia being removed from a UN report by Mr. Hunt’s Dept. Naturally, the Barrier Reef was mentioned, but what I found curious that he said already changes had occurred in the Tas. forests due to climate change. He didn’t say what they were and one can only presume it was the recent fires in NW. Tas. due to unusual weather conditions, dry lightning strikes and easterly weather.

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      delcon2

      The fires there are because the forestry can’t cold burn decause the “Greens”won’t allow it.I sometimes think they do it on purpose,so they can show that it is caused by”Global Warming”

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      • #

        We have had the Victorian fires of 2009 due in part to the inability to reduce fuel loads under benign conditions because of “green tape”. Essentially, one has been sitting on a tinderbox awaiting the weather events to cause a disaster as they did in 1926, 1939 etc.

        The ecology of the southern eucalypts is such that they only regenerate after a fairly hot burn which provides a clean ashbed, light and freedom from competing vegetation. Once established an occasional cold burn every decade or so will prevent the fuel accumulation which results in such intense fires. For those interested I can only suggest you read Max Gilbert’s Ph. D. thesis (about 1960) on his work in the Florentine valley; it’s in the Hobart University library.

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      doubtingdave

      Robert , Canada and the States don’t just share the same weather , they also share a certain pipeline , how is the anti science socialist Trudeau going to react when Trump comes a knocking and says lets make a deal ?

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        Graham Richards

        If “Trudy” don’t like it he’ll just have to lump it. Can’t see Trump cow towing to “Trudy”. Don’t forget Canada can’t afford to be offsides with a neighbour that’s really tough!

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          Uncle Fred

          Back in the seventies the USA denied Pierre Eliot Trudeau entry.
          Perhaps the same would happen to the Shiny Pony son if The Donald is successful in his presidential bid.
          Mind you the young fella did not ride through Montreal on a motorcycle during WWII with a German army helmet on his head.

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    Yonniestone

    I’m off to Coburg now to TRUMP Antifa, sorry I tried to be on topic, will give updates if allowed, cheers.

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    Gordon

    If I could I would vote for him. I say give him a chance, all the others are just flunkies. It would be good for the USA, and probably good for the world. Got to admit President Trump sounds good.

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      Joe Lalonde

      You would think that the other “World Leaders” would respect the possibility of President Trump and not go off at the mouth…

      Trump may come a Thumping…with what they have been saying…

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      el gordo

      ‘…and probably good for the world.’

      Yep, old style fence mending would bring political kudos and financial reward.

      http://thediplomat.com/2016/05/donald-trump-wants-to-talk-to-kim-jong-un-is-that-really-so-bad/

      Its completely outside the box.

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      • #
        Rereke Whakaaro

        Its completely outside the box

        Its completely insane.

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          el gordo

          Not so fast, China wants to avoid the collapse of North Korea because they fear the US would setup nuclear missiles on the border aimed at Beijing. China fears being encircled.

          At the moment the Chinese still trade with the rogue state (energy and food) but the Peninsula will remain unstable unless a white knight breaks the impasse and Donald is probably the best man for the job.

          The Muddle East instability is a lot harder to solve, because of all those god fearing people, whereas Kim is a devout heathen and easier to tempt with celebrity trinkets.

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            Rereke Whakaaro

            … the US would setup nuclear missiles on the border aimed at Beijing.

            They do not need to be in the geography, currently known as North Korea, to do that. If the US wanted to throw nuclear missiles, they could do it from loads of places, other than over the fence.

            I said, “its completely insane” because having the President of the United States visit Kim Jong Un, at home, would do nothing for Trump or the US, in terms of reputation, but would considerably raise Kim’s stature with the rest of the third world, and do wonders for the promotion, and sales, of nukes to various rebel groups. We would end up with a security scenario of the unstable, leading the unpredictable.

            I repeat, it’s completely insane.

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              stan stendera

              Somebody needs to tell the fat little jerk where to get off. Who better then Trump? I don’t normally disagree with your usual good sense and good humor, but you’re off the rails here.

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              el gordo

              Rereke is correct, but Trump would make a terrific roving ambassador under President Clinton. Only the hard jobs that nobody else would touch, like a visit to see the fat one on the Peninsula and maybe s stop off in Moscow to have a chat with Putin.

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    Rinaldo

    Dental, Medical And Climate Lies

    May 19 2016 | From: DrSircus

    Anyone alive today that believes we are living in a world of truth, justice and love needs to have their heads examined. We live in a world of lies and half-truths, which are really the same or worse than outright lies, because they confuse the human mind so much.

    Global Warming

    Incredible that the big liars of our times would stoop so low as to lie about the weather. Whom do they think they are kidding when they tell us it has never been warmer? It is spring and we are seeing record cold and snow, even down to near the equator at ten degrees north.

    “It will feel more like February in places such as New York City, Syracuse and Buffalo, New York; Boston; Burlington, Vermont; and Portland, Maine,” says accuweather.com at the beginning of April.

    The cold is expected to linger at least through mid-month, giving us temperatures more like single digit highs anywhere between 2, 3 °C (35.6, 37.4 °F) when we’d normally be seeing daytime highs of around 10 °C (50 °F).” Sounds like NOOA and NASA reports of record heat are going out the window.

    Global warming mongrels have a serious mental disease that is characterized by deliberately forgetting the most important aspect of all life on earth as well as its weather and that is the existence of the sun, whose output is in a cyclic decline for the next few decades. [SNIP. OT -j]

    Time Magazine and the Guardian both have recently published hysterical articles about the deadly serious threat of sea level rising because of ice melting in Antarctica.

    Unfortunately, for these dishonest media organizations that fact is that Antarctica is gaining not losing ice. According to NASA the Antarctic ice sheet showed a net gain of 112 billion tons of ice a year from 1992 to 2001. That net gain slowed to 82 billion tons of ice per year between 2003 and 2008.
    In addition, another reminder of how warm it isn’t. A 142-year monthly April record shattered in Concord, New Hampshire. Not just for the day, but for the entire month of April. The temperature on Tuesday morning dipped to a bone-chilling 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-15.6 C).

    The previous April cold record, 7 F (-13.9 C), had stood since April 1, 1874, during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. Syracuse, York, almost tripled its daily snowfall record on April 3rd with 16.8 cm of snow. This far exceeds the 6 cm that fell in 1937. Moreover, it is only the fourth snowfall ever recorded in the month of April for the city.

    It has been a brutal spring in both the United States and Russia with hard freezes, record low temperatures, and heavy snowfalls. Farmers are losing crops but our favorite politicians and governmental organizations will not stop getting on the horn about how warm it is.

    Conclusion
    Governments are suiciding the trust people have in them, democracy is becoming a cruel joke in Japan, the United States and Europe. Moreover, the media is showing how dishonest it is and how ready it is to prostitute itself to commercial and government interests.

    Furthermore, with the financial and economic lies compounding everyone’s problems we are in for a rough ride. Bill Bonner writes;

    “We live in a world of sin and sorrow, infected by a fraudulent democracy, Facebook, and a corrupt money system. Wheezing, weak, and weary from the exertion of trying to appear “normal,” the economy staggers on.”

    .
    http://www.wakeupkiwi.com/news-articles-35.shtml#DentalMedicalClimate

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    aussiepete

    stop funding UN global warming programs” Why not just stop funding UN. That reads even better.

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      toorightmate

      Totally agree.
      Can someone please enlighten me as to what GENUINE good the UN does for mankind (oops – personkind).

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        Rereke Whakaaro

        Can someone please enlighten me as to what GENUINE good the UN does for mankind

        The UN coordinates responses to natural disasters, such as the recent earthquakes in Nepal, by organising the delivery of relief supplies and emergency shelters and by providing on-the-ground expert medical staff and engineering expertise. In that regard, they do a good job.

        They get themselves into trouble, when they try to play politics, and when they try to step into a hot conflict, in order to keep the protagonists apart.

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          toorightmate

          Except when the Ebola crisis hit Africa, it was found that the UN health “experts” were all worse than useless – because they had been put into positions of power by mates via corruption.
          Sorry, I believe individual countries do a better job of distributing aid than the UN. The U N is part of the corruption process.

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          • #
            Analitik

            The WHO did eliminate smallpox and has greatly reduced polio

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            • #
              toorightmate

              Did they do as much to reduce polio as Rotary International?
              I don’t think so.

              Smallpox, I don’t know.

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            • #
              stan stendera

              A looong, long time ago. Idealistic endeavors all decay into ineffectual bureaucracies.

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    David S

    My 18 and 21 year old sons are barracking for Trump. They don’t follow politics like I do but they are sick of the political correctness that has been pumped into the younger generation. They like that the nauseating global do gooders are being challenged recognising that many are hypocrites . Whilst something about Trump makes me nervous especially the issue of free trade if his elevation to president is what it takes to destroy the greatest moral dilemma of our time ( global warming alarmism) then the world will be better off.

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    doubtingdave

    Can you remember before the turn of the new year when JO did a post on the level of climate scepticism of the candidates , Ted Cruz came out on top and rightly so , non of the others showed the level of knowledge , understanding and debating skills on climate issues that Ted did , so I got fully behind his candidacy at first , but then as we sceptics tend to do I looked deeper into his history and found his and his wives links to Goldman Sachs , and their support for the trade deals that I hate with a passion , can you blame me when I was around when we Brits got taken into a trade agreement back in the early 1970’s known as the common market , how did that work out when you look at it now , we actually got a vote back then on whether we should join , Americans didn’t get to vote on NAFTA and you Aussies don’t get a vote on TPP , so I switched my support to Trump. I have noticed lately though , that Trump has tried to make peace with Cruz and I hope Cruz can demonstrate his Christian values and forgive and forget , because there would be no body better than Ted to use his lawyer experience and climate knowledge to take on the EPA etc and roll back on those regulations , but please keep Ted and Heidi well away from those trade deals

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    • #
      el gordo

      This is a little old, but it seems apparent Ted will get the nod.

      ‘Now, he just came as close as he ever will to naming his Vice Presidential running mate. It appears he wants Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) to join the ticket. This is a political earthquake that would shake the political establishment to the core!’

      Read more: http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/breaking-donald-trump-just-named-his-running-mate/#ixzz49uK29YnQ

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    • #
      el gordo

      Taking it a little further, Ted is a brilliant lawyer and part of the financial Establishment. He is just the man to articulate why the Donald is dismantling the climate change facade.

      ‘When asked by ABC News whether he would have a woman or minority as his vice president, Trump did not rule it out.

      “I think it’s likely we would have somebody, but we don’t do it for any specific reason. We’re looking for absolute competence. I fully expect that we will have many women involved,” Trump said.

      yahoo news

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      • #
        mike restin

        I fully expect that we will have many women involved,” Trump said.

        Wasn’t that the same thing Bill Clinton promised?

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        • #
          el gordo

          Politicians rarely mean what they say, so I imagine there will be a token woman somewhere in the cabinet.

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          • #
            Retired Now

            With the daughter Trump has he is well used to strong women. Trump doesn’t need a token woman – he can cope with the real thing. He chooses the best for the task, me thinks.

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  • #
    Peter C

    Trump:
    Cancel the Paris agreement
    Stop funding UN Climate Change programs
    Support coal
    End subsidies for renewables
    Support real environmental problems ( clean air and water) not phony ones.

    All rational and sensible policies.

    What encourages me is that Donald is prepared to talk about them. He is getting traction with the voters. It is an Emporer with no clothes moment. Even if he does not win the Presidential election I think the Rationalist views must at last become legitimate public discussion.

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    Robert R

    A vote for Trump is a vote against political correctness. That is why the press and politicians everywhere hate him with a vengeance, report him out of context.

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  • #
    Manfred

    “A Trump administration will focus on real environmental challenges, not the phony ones,”
    “a poverty expansion agenda” – “The problem with solar is it’s very expensive.” – “So wind is a problem.” – “stop funding UN global warming programs”

    The watermelon flashpoint has been surpassed. It’s exploding heads time, ironically like the children who wouldn’t ‘get with the eco-program’.

    Whether Trump does or doesn’t remains to be seen. The point is that he’s calling it out for what it is. He is deliberately and pointedly ignoring the political correctness. As Obama has said, world leaders are concerned. Indeed they should be. The Progressive power of totalitarian eco-globalisation, which infects the UN and most relevant bureaucracies world-wide could well be peeled open like a rotten banana.

    A first step in undermining any manipulative power play is to reveal it. So far, all but a very few at the top of the political-media pyramid have broken from the goose-step. But by doing so Trump shows us his independence of position, a refusal to be intimidated by the PC eco-Credo of the moment. And, by revealing the ‘drama’ that is routinely used to manipulate, to control, to justify, he exposes the fallacy and its underlying Agenda.

    I sincerely hope he and his family have a cast iron security detail close to hand at all time. That is my persistent and nagging worry.

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    • #
      TdeF

      Well said. As Monckton had warned unequivocally, the UN replaced our Prime Minister and the Canadian PM with their friends. Here a rich merchant banker who immediately introduced an ETS without a word in the media and without a word from any politician. The incredibly ungrateful turncoats who voted Abbott out like Bronwyn Bishop and Dennis Jensen have been rewarded with removal at preselection. Green politicians have been put in many seats and even hired for the cabinet office.

      Our Conservative government has been taken over from the inside, so it is refreshing to hear the sole US Republican candidate say Climate Global Warming CO2 anti Coal is all rubbish, very dangerous rubbish. As Abbott said, crap and socialism masquerading as environmentalism. The American eagle is the symbol of the country and it is being slaughtered under UN direction. Surely that is a warning to all Americans that environmentalists are a fifth column. In Victoria the creator of the national ‘safe schools’ program which is entirely about sexuality and not bullying, has resigned over her post that a red flag over parliament would be her final victory.

      However as you imply, the frightening question is whether the UN will allow Trump to be President. He threatens all their funding. It could happen here. We had a violent ABC riot in Canberra against Tony Abbott, initiated blatantly by the ABC and organized by at least one inside the Labor PM’s staff and Gillard knew about it. It could not have been more obvious. Trump needs to be on high alert. The UN is not a democracy and it wants power and money, especially from the US.

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      • #
        Manfred

        The UN is not a democracy and it wants power and money, especially from the US.

        Given the UN 2030 bureaucratic goal of global governance ‘administration’, dare I say it, their securing of power and money could right now be at any and all costs.

        Consider that the UN et al. have simply too much invested to be thwarted by the instinctive lunge of the millions for their freedom. Trump woke them from the Progressive social narcosis.

        To restore reason, science and common sense, normal healthy human interaction unadulterated by political correctness, optimism, hope, prosperity, and a confidence in the founding Judeo-Christian traditions of the West, the sense of self-determination and above all these, a cessation of the diarrhoea of UN, UNEP, UNFCCC, WHO, Government, Local Council and MSM noise that unrelentingly tells us what to do and to think. Enough!

        Trump, I think, just may enable, “enough!”

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    pat

    couldn’t copy excerpts from the following initially, so selected all, copied & pasted it in notepad, & then copied the bits i wanted.
    pic at top of article has caption “bad for the environment” plus Getty attribution but, when i copied & pasted the whole page, i got the following:

    Trump on a podium, with his hilarious hair
    Bad for the environment
    Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

    27 May: New Scientist: Trump would deliver fatal blow to fight against climate change
    A Donald Trump presidency would disrupt the fight against climate change in a way that threatens to snuff out all hope, warns Matthew Nisbet
    Trump trails Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic rival for the White House, in fundraising, and his speech was a clear sign that he seeks to capitalise on financial support from the powerful fossil fuel industry. His call to roll back industry regulations also deepens his appeal to voters in oil, gas and coal-producing states…
    Climate incoherence
    Yet a Trump presidency poses an existential threat qualitatively different from past Republican candidates who have doubted climate change. It could set in motion a wave of political and economic crises, creating global turmoil that would fatally disrupt efforts to tackle this issue in the US and abroad.
    Alarmed by the possibility of a Trump victory in November, international negotiators are urgently working to finalise the UN Paris agreement, in the hope that it can become legally binding before President Obama leaves office. Yet even if the gambit is successful, a Trump victory could cripple international progress in other ways…
    The broader disruption of a Trump presidency would do even greater damage, weakening efforts to create a sense of urgency over climate change. Trump’s candidacy has brought public discourse in the US to its ugliest level, as he trades in trash talk and outrageous insults, spreading falsehood and innuendo, fomenting bigotry and prejudice.
    He has threatened the censure of critics in the media, even condoning violence against protesters, calling them “thugs” and “criminals”. His success emboldens far right and ultra-nationalist movements in the US and across Europe, risking further destabilisation…
    https://www.newscientist.com/article/2090672-trump-would-deliver-fatal-blow-to-fight-against-climate-change/

    who is this hack journo, Matthew Nisbet, i thought…and then noted at the bottom of the article “Matthew Nisbet is professor of communication at Northeastern University in Boston”.
    more on Nisbet:

    ClimateShiftProject.org: Matthew Nisbet
    Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Affiliate Associate Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. He is incoming Editor of the journal Environmental Communication; founding Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Climate Change Communication, and a consulting science communication researcher to the American Association for the Advancement of Science…
    Nisbet studies the role of communication, media, and public opinion in debates over science, technology, and the environment. The author of more than 75 peer-reviewed studies, scholarly book chapters, and reports, at Northeastern University he teaches courses on Environmental Issues, Communication, and the Media…
    Among awards and recognition, he has been a Visiting Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government… a Google Science Communication Fellow, and is currently a member of the National Academies consensus study committee on a The Science of Science Communication: A Research Agenda.” He serves on the editorial boards for Public Understanding of Science, The Oxford Research Encyclopedia Climate Science, and the International Journal of Press/Politics, and is a past member of the editorial board at Science Communication. Nisbet is affiliated researcher with the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine and the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University.
    In 2011, the editors at the journal Nature recommended Nisbet’s research as “essential reading for anyone with a passing interest in the climate change debate,” and the New Republic highlighted his work as a “fascinating dissection of the shortcomings of climate activism.” According to Reuters Web of Knowledge, Nisbet’s research has been cited in the peer-reviewed literature more than 1950 times (H-Index = 22), and according to Google Scholar more than 5700 times (H-Index = 34). In terms of scholarly impact, these metrics rank him among the most influential communication researchers of his generation…
    RESEARCH AGENDA
    NISBET: As a social scientist, I study the communication and media processes that shape debates over science, technology, and the environment. I have examined how various frames of reference , policy discourses, and media portrayals not only influence the perceptions of the public, but also the judgments of experts, journalists, philanthropists, and advocates.
    My goal has been to develop new knowledge, methods, and strategies that enhance the ability of scientists, media professionals, and advocates to effectively communicate about complex policy problems, and to overcome polarized differences…PLUS MUCH MORE
    http://climateshiftproject.org/about/

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    John Robertson

    That Trump even speaks of the CAGW scam is refreshing and shows his media savvy.
    The “World Leaders ” having a fit of the vapours over Trump challenging their cosy little kleptocracy is heart warming.
    So many are dubious of Trump’s Promises, it does not matter, Trump is a raised index finger to those who wish to rule and regulate.
    If he turns out to be a phoney, then the patriots will have to clean out the parasites themselves.
    Trump is the reform by peaceful methods.
    I doubt that Kleptocracy can be reformed, however I hope the American citizens send their current professional parasites packing.
    What ever else Trump might be, he is an American Success and seems to have become offended by the lawless,rapacious fools and bandits infesting our governments.
    As he says,he knows what politicians are,he has paid off enough of them.

    The mark of this man, is the quality of his opponents.
    When every branch of the creeping evil and Kleptocracy come out slandering and throwing faeces …I think we have a winner.
    The more they hyperventilate, shriek and rant, the greater the number of citizens start thinking..If these creatures hate him,he might be OK.

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    pat

    murdoch news headline in google results:

    Trump reveals his terrifying plans
    In-Depth-NEWS.com.au-18 hours ago

    has been changed to the following.
    no “environmental activist” is actually quoted saying Trump’s speech was “frightening” and the only “activist” quoted in the piece in response to Trump’s speech is billionaire Democrat, Tom Steyer!

    27 May: news.com.au: Gavin Fernando: Donald Trump’s latest speech has environmental activists worried
    WHEN you think of saving the planet, Donald Trump probably isn’t exactly the first name to come to mind…
    It’s safe to say his thoughts on the matter could even make the likes of Tony “Climate change is absolute crap” Abbott blush…
    But the Republican frontrunner’s latest speech was something next-level…
    The scariest part is his audience seems to be lapping it up…
    While Trump’s speech was met with loud applause from oil executives, environmental activists have been quick to criticise his comments, deeming his proposals “frightening”.
    “Trump’s energy policies would accelerate climate change, protect corporate polluters who profit from poisoning our air and water, and block the transition to clean energy that is necessary to strengthen our economy and protect our climate and health,” said Tom Steyer, a billionaire environmental activist…
    http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/donald-trumps-latest-speech-has-environmental-activists-worried/news-story/7a570ee7aa361f4df7323f56c414efe4

    about the writer, Gavin Fernando: news.com.au social media editor til April this year, formerly entertainment producer (Channel 10) etc:

    LinkedIn: Gavin Fernando
    https://au.linkedin.com/in/gavin-fernando-975386a1

    the MSM is a joke.

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      TdeF

      accelerate climate change”? What Climate Change? If Australia’s 350 Climate Scientists could not prove man made Climate Change in years and finally had to accept that it had been proven overseas, how can you accelerate something you have trouble defining? How is it distinguished from the novel idea of ‘natural variability’?

      Of all the worries from Nuclear proliferation to killer pandemics like Ebola, Climate Change is the one worry no one can find. Other problems like the 3,000 tons of Sarin gas in the hands of Saddam Hussein and then Assad have been handled and the gas should have been destroyed by now in factory ships in the meditteranean, but no one worries about that. This morning China is putting a dozen nuclear armed submarines in the Pacific, but no one worries. However say the change in rainfall in the Yarra Valley or the excess rain in Innisfail has people terrified or a 6mm rise in the sea level has the UN in thrall.

      Since the reformation and the sale of indulgences, never has such an unscientific, unproven, irrational fear gripped a planet and promoted by the United Nations as a means of ‘wealth redistribution’. Now one man is going to make it worse?

      Whatever you think of Trump, you have to say he is challenging the professional politicians to make science sense. Their eagle slicers have done enough damage to the environment or perhaps no one notices? Certainly not the communist Greens. Amazingly even the Republicans do not like Trump because he disturbs the games of the professional politicians, like our rabble in Canberra.

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        TdeF

        Could you imagine the uproar from the ‘environmentalists’ if a conservative government dared build hundreds of thousands of devices which killed rare eagles? The only people concerned are conservatives. As Trump and Abbott say, environmentalism is a deceit. (I dare not use any other obvious word)

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          TdeF

          When was the last time a coal power station killed an eagle? Or any other bird? Where are the environmentalists demanding the closure of wind farms and against the creation of new wind farms? Surely wind farms are built by greedy capitalists exploiting our fears at huge cost to the environment? They are ugly, noisy, intolerable and a disaster for migrating birds and raptors. Not a single protest. Why?

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            Labor’s goal of 50% renewable by 2030 means approx. 50,000 MW nameplate of wind turbines in addition to the 3,669 MW we already have.

            That’s 12,500 x 4 MW turbines covering from 25,000 to 35,700 sq. km. Metropolitan Sydney plus Melbourne is approx. 21,000 sq. km.

            In addition to cover those periods of little wind (< 10% production) one also needs approx.10,000 MW of gas turbines as well to keep the lights on. It begs the question why not just use 15,000 MW of gas turbines and forget about the windmills? And for a cheaper option why not 15,000 MW of modern efficient coal stations?

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    pat

    27 May: UK Express: Jon Austin: Has climate change been disproved? Large Hadron boffins cast shock DOUBT on global warming
    MANKIND’S burning of fossil fuels may not be the primary cause of global warming, according to the shock results of a new study by scientists behind the Large Hadron Collider (LCH).
    Boffins from CERN have also discovered projected temperature increases over the next century may have been over estimated.
    Researchers found trees may have been putting similar aerosols into the air as burning fossil fuels, long before the industrial revolution, meaning humans may have had less impact on the climate than we thought…
    Jasper Kirkby, CERN particle physicist and originator and spokesperson of the CLOUD experiment, said: “We found that nature produces particles without pollution.
    “That is going to require a rethink of how human activities have increased aerosols in clouds.”
    The results may turn the whole climate change debate and projected temperature increases upside down, they said…READ ALL
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/674557/Has-climate-change-been-disproved-Large-Hadron-boffins-cast-shock-DOUBT-on-global-warming

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    Ross

    Cut and pasted from another blog post

    “There has to be a lot of these people

    In 1991, at the end of Desert Storm, a 19 yr. old US Army Cavalry

    Scout Private who had just spent 8 months at war sat out on a street

    at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. He sat there on his duffle bag with

    his Battalion around him for 4 days waiting for the buses to come and

    take him to the King Fahad Airport so he could go home.

    Unfortunately, the politicians of the day never planned for how to

    bring so many soldiers home after the war ended so there was a

    shortage of planes. Politicians are great at talking, but terrible at

    doing.

    Finally, the buses came, and took the young man to the airport. The

    planes waiting were from Tower Air. The owner of Tower Air had

    volunteered his planes and staff to bring soldiers home for the cost

    of fuel only.

    Happily, the young veteran got home just in time for Easter weekend in

    1991, and spent that time emotionally healing with friends and family

    surrounding him.

    That Private was me.

    The Airline owner – Donald J Trump.

    That is why I will vote Trump. Loyalty for loyalty, respect for

    respect. Any questions?

    Written by Ron Knouse “

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    pat

    posted ClimateDepot report on the following on jo’s “Australia’s ETS scheme” thread yesterday, where McConnell says:

    26 May: ClimateDepot: Marc Morano: Former Obama Energy Chief slams EPA climate regs: ‘Falsely sold as impactful’ – ‘All U.S. annual emissions will be offset by 3 weeks of Chinese emissions’
    McCONNELL: ‘All of the U.S. annual emissions in 2025 will be offset by three weeks of Chinese emissions. Three weeks.’

    24 hours later and NO MSM report on his testimony can be found online!!! only Bastsch at Daily Caller:

    26 May: DailyCaller: Michael Bastasch: Former Obama Energy Chief Eviscerates EPA Climate Regs: ‘Sold As Impactful’ [VIDEO]
    “The Clean Power Plan has been falsely sold as impactful environmental regulation when it is really an attempt by our primary federal environmental regulator to take over state and federal regulation of energy,” McConnell said of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rule to limit carbon dioxide from power plants.
    “What’s also clear, scientifically and technically, is that EPA’s plan will not significantly impact global emissions,” he said in a Thursday congressional hearing on EPA’s rule…
    McConnell’s no global warming skeptic, and told members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology he thought the U.S. should reduce CO2 emissions. McConnell said the Clean Power Plan (CPP), however, will only reduce global CO2 emissions by 0.2 percent.
    That’s virtually no impact on warming at a high cost. EPA’s rule would only reduce projected warming by 0.01 degrees Celsius and projected sea level rise by 1/100 of an inch — the equivalent as two human hairs.
    “It’s a waste of citizens money,” McConnell said…
    McConnell’s testimony sharply criticized EPA’s CPP, and even slammed the agency for doing subpar analysis when it came to how cramming more green energy onto the electric grid would impact reliability.
    He said EPA consulted with his office at DOE about future “resource adequacy” of the grid, not grid reliability…ETC
    http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/26/former-obama-energy-chief-eviscerates-epa-climate-regs-sold-as-impactful/

    PDF: 15 pages: Statement of Charles D. McConnell
    Executive Director, Energy and Environment Initiative,
    Rice University
    Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Environment
    Thursday, May, 26, 2016
    Written Testimony
    https://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/HHRG-114-SY18-WState-CMcConnell-20160526.pdf

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      Ross

      Oh !! Isn’t the internet a powerful tool. I was duped –should have checked like you Mark.

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        Peter C

        Well maybe you apologise to soon Ross.

        I appreciate that you may have cross posted the from another blog. That is dangerous.

        However I read Mark’s article all the way theough. The article implies that Tower Air (B747 illustrated) did not fly to Iraq and maybe Donald Trump was not the owner anyway. But later on serviceman Knowse shows a picture of a B727 with TRUMP written on the side which he says Is the aircraft which picked him up.

        Trump is supposed to have sold the B727 in May 1991 but the repatriation flight was April 1991. Therefore it is conceivable and likely true that the story is substantially correct. Of course I have no idea what Trump was paid to provide the flight.

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        Annie

        Nice story though.

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    sillyfilly

    I agree with John Howard, Trump is “UNSTABLE”

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      Yonniestone

      I did not expect you to say this, completely out of left field……..

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      AndyG55

      Coming from a 3 legged glue factory reject, that’s quite funny.

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      el gordo

      This is another part of the quote from John Howard on Trump.

      “He’s doing well because he’s saying things that a lot of people think should be said but the current political class aren’t willing to say,” Howard told Sky News on Sunday.

      “In part, his success is emblematic of people’s frustration with political correctness. What people like is he seems to call it as it is.”

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      el gordo

      While in office John Howard squashed popular uprisings.

      https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2016/05/populism-rising/

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      Glenn999

      thank you for that reply.
      Now another good reason to vote for Trump!

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      Manfred

      Cripes! Another echo-repeater at large.
      What I suppose does that make politicians look like? Politics is after all, the art of lying.
      No SF, I’ll take the vagaries of Real Trump over the sibilant, tele-prompted, carefully crafted, politically correct tones, socially engineered by the Ministry-of-We-Know-Best-For-Your-Own-Good to mean all things to all people.
      Aside from that, I’m infinitely sick of being constantly told what to do and to think.

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      Geoffrey Williams

      Great -I would vote for him anyway!
      GeoffW

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      Sane Canadian

      One of those leftist protesters that give Trump legitimacy?

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    James in Melbourne

    As Monckton had warned unequivocally, the UN replaced our Prime Minister and the Canadian PM with their friends.

    Unfortunately, TdeF, this fanciful notion absolves Tony Abbott of all that he did to bring about his own downfall – which was plenty. Just off the top of my head, there was the egregious and completely dishonest “temporary” deficit levy, the failure to bring Triggs and the Human Rights Commission to book, the pandering to the retailers over the online GST, the PPL, that Rolls-Royce of unaffordable measures, the total failure to drag the ABC kicking and screaming toward even a token attempt to fulfil its charter, the cushy jobs for Stott-Despoja and Combet, the surrender on 18C at the first whiff of grapeshot, the ham-fisted incompetence that eroded a mandate of quite sweeping scope in record time, and then the piece de resistance, the unfathomably ludicrous Sir Phil the Duke of Edinburgh 5111 of Australia.

    I backed him, big-time, but he blew it, and very badly. Talking about the UN removing him sounds like True Believers clinging to a vision of the CIA ousting St. Gough.

    By the way, can I ask, were you once a parliamentarian in a mainland state? If so, you knew my folks and I knew your sons.

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      TdeF

      Ludicrous Phil’s award was actually a formal request made to the leaders of all Commonwealth countries from the Palace to recognize a lifetime of sponsoring charities and for his 90th birthday. Yes, it was useless but cost nothing and a fitting gesture. It was certainly not Abbott’s idea, just presented as such by the very left ABC who hate the Royal family and everything British.

      Tony Abbott and his mandate only applied to the democratic house of Representatives with only one Green member. The Senate controlled by the tiny Green states meant a total road block to any legislative changes. Palmer even tried to write legislation in the Senate, only to find he could not. However without the support of the senate and six independents, nothing passed. The independents blocked 70% of all legislation! 18C had no hope of removal or amendment as proposed by Brandis. Without the independents and Palmer’s personal $6Million carbon tax bill, we would still have the Carbon tax.

      Trigg is the head of an utterly useless $15Million a year judicial body setup by legislation under Labor. The conditions for her removal are set but she has the status of a judge and judicial bodies are by Westminster tradition independent of government. If she can be removed by the head of state at whim, a judicial body is not going to work. Besides, the Human Rights commission has no real power, as we do not have the US legal system based on Rights. You have to disband the very expensive and utterly useless Human Rights Commission itself, but again that would take both houses of parliament.

      I really disagree about the ‘Rolls Royce’ parental leave scheme. It meant high performing, very highly taxed professional women could also afford the time off to have children. On 50% tax, the nett total cost was zero calculated over a year. Six months of not collecting tax and only returning the tax they paid in the first six months. Women doctors, surgeons, barristers, pilots, executives need support too. Abbott does have a degree in economics and can add. The Greens see every tax break as a gift but public servants get this scheme, just not women surgeons.

      It’s nice that you backed Tony. However so did many other Australians, but it made no difference. Only those things like stopping the boats were able to be done as that did not require parliament. Even so the Senate set up endless commissions to attack any decision he did make.

      These ideas of Tony’s performance were put out by the dominant ABC which would be illegal in size if it were private. Like the HRC though, the government can only touch their budget and they screamed liar when it was reduced in line with every other government department.

      History will show that the mandate meant practically nothing and the Greens are still the key to the senate. Turnbull has destroyed the independents with his double dissolution to remove their six year terms. This actually increases the Labor/Green numbers. Why? So watch for the Green Liberal coalition. It is a lawyer’s solution, not an ethical one and if you think Abbott betrayed your vote, just wait to see what Malcolm does with Turnbull’s Liberals. Four weeks to go to a Green dictatorship worse than Gillard.

      No, sorry. Not a politician. A scientist businessman.

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        Graeme No.3

        TdeF:

        Turnbull doesn’t want to share power. The Greens will be influential until he doesn’t need them and they will be dumped. The same for Morrison and Bishop who may soon regret their support for him.

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          TdeF

          Not sure about the sharing. Malcolm only shares with Lucy, soon to be the new Queen of Australia. She is already appearing in women’s magazines.

          The Liberals currently control the lower house today even without the Nationals but as at present they could not get a mouse through the Senate even with the Nationals. That is why an unthinkable deal with the Greens is in play. That’s why we are having an unnecessary double disssolution, to clear out the six year independents in the senate. Malcolm and Di Natale will control both houses.

          In this new coalition the Liberals could be subject to the whim of the Greens but Turnbull is very Green anyway, evidence his proposal to make the Very Fast Train project a reality and profitable when it loses money even in densely populated Europe. This is a signature Green policy, not a Liberal one.

          So the Greens with 20% of the vote will get 20+% of the seats at last. Labor will lose a lot to the Greens and the Liberals. In devastating manufacturing, the Unions have reduced participation to 12% of the workforce outside the Public Service, which is at 40%. There will be no real opposition. In a wipe out Shorten could really have fewer than ten seats.

          With real preference swapping, Labor and Green seats would flip. 8 Labor seats were absolute majorities, but no one was counting on a Liberal/Green ticket and even those could be lost. Even on a null preference, Di Natalie will be Deputy Prime Minister and his Greens will be a political party in their own right representing their 20% core constituency, public servants and the children of Labor voters. Di Natalie is trying to deny these deals, but listen carefully. It is all smoke screen.

          Malcolm does not need policies, just numbers. He does not plan to fix the economy. He will raid superannuation. No one can stop him. Conservatives have nowhere to go, as we have been openly told by Michael Kroeger. The big losers will be Labor and the Nationals, each losing preferences from the Greens and Liberals respectively. It is critical that Malcolm and Di Natale keep their supporters on side for another five weeks. Then it doesn’t matter.

          As Malcolm demonstrated, once you have power, you can destroy your enemies and even your friends. Abbott put Malcolm in charge of the ABC and Bishop in foreign affairs. Malcolm put Abbott on the back bench. Those who betrayed Abbott have been removed, 13 of them. They were not to be trusted. It is as if Stalin were running the party. Trotsky was hunted down. Morrison and Bishop will be the next political victims. Malcolm will not tolerate competition.

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            TdeF

            Also in evidence I would tender that the bill to remove minority parties was from Malcolm’s Liberals and supported by the Greens, opposed by Labor and of course, the independents themselves. Now as it likely benefits Labor, why would they oppose it?

            Labor’s time is nearly done. Their biggest mistake was to be more Green than the Greens, abandoning their traditional worker base for their new public service base, which is Green. Who really believes half the power from windmills and solar in 14 years? No one. Never fear, science will provide, somehow. Too bad there is no research but the capitalist Americans always come through.

            Wouldn’t it be great if the billions spent trying to prove Climate Change and building windmills were actually spent on research into alternative fuels and storage? After all 31 countries have nuclear power stations but not one in Australia. Even Slovakia has 4 nuclear power stations. Now South Australia is prepared to accept the waste but not the power? Illogical Greens. NIMBYS.

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    Egor TheOne

    Go the Trump !
    Clean out all the ratbag true b’lvers and renewable racketeers .

    Wish we could vote for him here , instead of ‘yell it from the back of a ute Carbon Bill’ or Mr Goldman and Sachs TurnTrueB’lverBull !

    After the Paris Climate true b’lver Hajj agreement gets the well deserved ‘s bend’ treatment , the next target for disbandment and abolition is the wall to wall Marxist’s Conglomerate >> the Unelected Nutters (U.N.) , the founders of this global racket .

    We need a Donald Trump here instead of the many that have never worked outside of politics or much less have run any business in their sad life .
    How can such imbeciles be allowed to run multi-billion dollar portfolios and with little or no account for their inevitable blunders?

    ‘Vote 1 the Donald’!

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    PeterS

    Most of you must be far more intelligent than me. How else can so many say that Trump is the answer to most of their problems. As far as I know Trump may be a great guy and the ideal person to be the next President. However, he also could be the worst ever. Only time will tell. So many people thought Obama was the best when he first won Presidency. Now look at him. He’s more like the male version of Gillard but worse. If Trump wins I sincerely do hope he does good and not turn out to be our worst nightmare. Right now there is no way anyone can know what will happen if he became President, not even himself. I never got my crystal ball.

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      PeterPetrum

      However, with Trump there is some hope that he just might do some of the things he promises. With Clinton you can be SURE she will! That’s the difference.

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      el gordo

      ‘I never got my crystal ball.’

      Hilary is still favorite with the punters and the astrologers also think she will beat Donald.

      Sounds about right, he would be a good roving ambassador, the sort of fella who could go to North Korea with a trade deal and bring an end to the cold war.

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    Steve of Cornubia

    If Trump turns out to be the narcissistic, over-ambitious, sociopathic, unreliable, unprincipled and devious horror that he is being painted, well………that just means he’s qualified to be a politician, doesn’t it? Are there ANY current politicians, in America of here in Oz, that don’t fit that description?

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    Campbell

    How sad that timing is not right, otherwise we could have asked Donald Trump over to replace one of our pollies – Turnbull, Bronwyn Bishop – lots of potential vacancies!

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    pat

    ClimateChangeNews: Delegates meeting at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn (16 to 26 May) had the opportunity to say farewell to outgoing UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres at a special plenary event. At the opening of the event, Christiana Figueres gave this address:

    27 May: ClimateChangeNews: Christiana Figueres: Impossible is not a fact, it is an attitude
    My gratitude to all of them, as they have ensured that this process of transformation is now propelled by the unstoppable drive of our shared humanity, boosted by new recognitions of opportunity and possibility.
    My thanks also to the extended UN system that has supported us all along the way and reminded us of the ultimate goals we collectively pursue: the protection of human rights and the most vulnerable, the eradication of poverty, the social and environmental building blocks of peace, and the long term sustainability of growth.
    And most intensely, I extend my deeply felt gratitude to the amazing staff of the climate change secretariat. When I joined the secretariat I felt that I had finally arrived home. Together we have further matured this institution into the high performing organization it is now…
    Many people ask whether I am sad to be leaving—the answer is no. I have had the unparalleled privilege of being at your side as you collectively wrote history.
    Yes sharing a few—or many— tears of passion along the way, and also relishing many moments of utter joy. But it is in this crucible of emotions and convictions that the indelible path was forged.
    You have often heard me say that impossible is not a fact, it is an attitude. You have proven that to be true…
    http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/05/27/christiana-figueres-impossible-is-not-a-fact-it-is-an-attitude/

    27 May: ClimateChangeNews: Ed King: Is the real rich v poor climate battle about to start?
    Two weeks of UN talks in Bonn underline scope and scale of challenge facing governments as they work out implications of 2015 Paris deal
    “Everybody is committed, and this is the message we are getting out of the negotiators,” said Christian Aid advisor Mohamed Adow.
    In a sign of the general good humour, hundreds of delegates stood and sang “Climate Queen” (VIDEO), a reworked version of the 1970s Abba classic, to outgoing UN climate chief Christiana Figueres…
    But behind closed doors, observers say tensions persist between wealthy nations who are expected to pick up the bill for a proposed green transition, and historically poorer countries.
    “The support issue is a priority issue,” said China’s chief climate negotiator Su Wei in an interview with the Xinhua news agency on Thursday.
    Developing countries need more than $3 trillion to deliver on the climate plans (now known in UN jargon as NDCs) they submitted to the UN in 2015.
    In a sign of frustration at the slow trickle of funding and green technology filtering to the developing world, this week 90 countries called for this year’s main UN climate meeting in Marrakech, Morocco to be a “renewable energy summit”.
    The initial aim is to ensure Africa enjoys 10 gigawatts of new green power by 2020…
    http://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/05/27/the-real-rich-v-poor-battle-over-climate-change-has-just-started/

    same old song: fossil-fuel-rich Africans must leapfrog fossil fuels for the sake of Big Renewables’ bottom lines in the developed world. criminal.

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      pat shows us this:

      The initial aim is to ensure Africa enjoys 10 gigawatts of new green power by 2020…

      When said like that, just a bland old 10GW, it sounds like so much.

      That’s almost 4 times the Nameplate of Bayswater, so it sorta sounds like 4 Bayswaters, eh.

      The amount of power actually delivered by that 10GW of renewables is what Bayswater delivers in 13 Months.

      I dread what will happen when the people (everywhere, not just in Africa, but here in Australia as well) actually find out the real truth that renewables just fail to deliver.

      You have politicians mentioning about chopping up birds, frying them too, noise problems, problems with the vista being ruined, etcetera etcetera.

      As important as those things are, the major fact which needs to be stressed is that they only generate marginal amounts of power.

      No one ever mentions that.

      It’s just another form of generating power to them, and until people have it explained correctly, there will always be the belief that renewables can do what is claimed.

      At the moment coal fired power is what is actually ….. propping up the renewables industry giving the impression that while ever power comes out of the proverbial hole in the wall, then electrical power is just, well, electrical power. It’s all the same.

      Well it isn’t!

      Tony.

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    carol

    PeterS, I was definitely NOT one of the ‘many’ people who thought Obama was the best either before or after he first won. Even the little bit of research I did suggested he was a disaster in the making for the US and her people, and the West more generally, and I was right. He has made himself rich and important. OTOH, Trump was already rich and didn’t need this. I believe him that he believes somebody has to pull the US back up and that he is the best one to do it. He is someone who could make a real difference in the opposite direction to the way things have been going. If he is not assassinated beforehand. He talks, commonsense, is a persuader, has a good smart brain, and dismisses political correctness. That last alone would be enough for me to really like him. That the MSM hate him but have been coming off 2nd best against him says a lot. More importantly, he is running with not just Make America Great Again but America First. In his book Kissinger on the Couch (1975), Rear Admiral Chester Ward, Former Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy and CFR member for sixteen years, stated: “The CFR has as a goal submergence of U.S. sovereignty and national independence into an all-powerful one-world government. In the entire CFR lexicon there is no term of revulsion carrying a meaning as deep as ‘America First’” That Trump has the courage to make it clear he is going to be all about ‘America First’ knowing full well that those who consider themselves part of the elite destined to be at the top of a one world government will both fear and hate him also says a lot. He knows all their tricks and deceptions. That the ‘elite establishment’ are spitting like cornered cats, both Republicans and Democrats confirms that. His speech on making the US self sufficient in energy, with the focus on all the jobs that will provide, and the dollars it will create was inspiring. He says clean air and clean water is the only environmental thing he will worry about and that the private sector not the government should be funding wind power. I, too, wish I could vote for him. The media have been trying hard for a ‘Gotcha’ to no avail. Says even more! BTW, he supports the 2nd Amendment. Hilary has already made it clear that she intends to get rid of that should she prevail. Frankly, I don’t understand the many posters here who claim to dislike him and are repeating MSM accusations against him. He has produced functional children and even his ex wives say they are friends with him and think he would make a good President.

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      Manfred

      Nicely written and well said Carol. I couldn’t agree more, and particularly with the imperative of push back against the creeping social narcosis of eco-globalisation, leading to a UN global administration (governance in all but name, without election) by 2030. I am also struck by the ease with which people echo the MSM, without a thought or question about Trump. The desire to leave no stone unturned appears seemingly absent, and equally, seemingly independent of their education, political and financial disposition. I wonder whether their comfortable narcosis is the source of their delusional inertia.

      I was reflexively suspicious of Trump to start with, but as the MSM quickly grew more strident and damning, the alarm bells went off. I watched every GOP Nomination ‘debate’ and began to build an impression, which I advanced by further exploration. As Trump slays the drama of each PC icon of cultural Marxism thrown against him, the desperation of the Left grows more palpable. Clinton and Sanders present no alternative, and the Dems know it, as indeed does Obama.

      Irrespective of one’s political leanings, Trump generates appeal to those that instinctively value their freedom. I think we’re seeing evidence of that in the raw numbers voting for him.

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        Retired Now

        Frankly I was appalled when Trump first made his decision to stand – but, and I have to admit this – my emotional response was based solely on vague rememberings of business failure and his pointed finger and voice saying “you’re fired,” on TV shorts for a program I never watched. When he started to gain traction I thought I should find out more about him, especially as the left hated him so much and thus he must have something going for him.

        Over the last months I have developed a qualified admiration for him and when I’ve discovered occasions of his supposedly saying opposite things and investigated further those opposite statements were in totally different contexts, both valid. A two dimensional cardboard cutout politician, he is not. I watch with avid interest.

        And wonder when an equivalent person will arise here in Australia.

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      stan stendera

      That comment by carol is the best, the very best summation of why to vote for Trump I have ever read. + infinity.

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  • #
    ROM

    Even if Trump does not get elected to the Presidency, he has changed America in ways that nobody even dreamed of before he appeared and made such an impact.
    If it is not to be Trump this time around then there will be another not unlike Trump within the next couple of Presidential elections.

    Nobody seems to mention or recall that Sarah Palin some four years back was already heading down similar political pathways that Trump is now going down.

    Palin was the political canary in the Washington elite’s coal mine but the political and academic and most particularly the media elite completely missed the message being very subtly broadcast by the middle and lower classes outside of the wealthy eastern and western coastal elite of the US, that brought Palin to the fore those four years ago.
    The Washington and East and West coast governing elites just dismissed her as irrelevant and no threat.

    Now they have to face down Trump and a growing legion of his activated middle class followers, a very much tougher and potent and potentially impossible subject for the Washington elites to try and face down this time around.

    And if they succeed in sidelining Trump this time around and still refuse in their hubris and arrogance to take middle America as an increasingly potent political force then they might live long enough to very deeply regret that they never gave Trump and his supporters the political cognizance and recognition that was due to him and his supporters and which was their basic right along with the rest of America.

    Clinton may win the presidency but she will no longer have a free hand to implement her socialistic middle class destroying program.
    For both she and Congress will be very aware indeed that they had better start to take serious cognizance of the desires and wishes and demands of middle class America or face the consequences which even they might not be able to fully calibrate.

    Losing all office might just be the least of what might face the Washington political and bureaucratic elite if they fail this time around to begin to reflect those dreams and desires and demands of the middle America for it is the middle class who in the end, drive any developed nation’s economy along with its cultural and political memes.

    And perhaps the fourth so called pillar of democracy, the Fourth Estate, the media, is the most to blame of all for the political malaise that is so dramatically affecting most of the western nations including Australia.

    The western media no longer represents the interests of the people it claims it represents or acts as a brake and a counter to the political class and today’s inbred political, academic, bureaucratic , business, union and environmental elites.

    The media itself has become part of and has integrated itself almost totally with the ruling political elites and in doing so has failed almost completely to uphold its end of that long standing unwritten and unspoken charter between it and the public to “keep the bastards honest”.

    A situation that has now been recognised by a small and possibly growing group within the media itself.

    Perhaps a small reflection of that beginning of a significant rethink by the media on its role in politics and whose interests it really is supposed to represent in our society was the strongly worded and devastating critique of the Australian Greens and its leader, Dinatale’s political ambitions by Janet Albrechtsen in today’s “Saturday Australian”.

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  • #
    Joe Lalonde

    Here is Donald Trumps official ad…It is very moving.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACcni_H1BCY

    60

  • #
    JRP

    For those of you who are interested in the state of the US presidential election, and Trump’s part in it, I highly recommend The Last Refuge web site. Trump’s rallies have allowed him to speak directly to over 1 million people since his campaign started, effectively bypassing the filters of the liberal media.

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/

    70

  • #
    Egor TheOne

    Yellen Austraya from the back of a ute Carbon Bill isn’t fit to shine Trump’s shoes !
    Since when does a so called potential leader insult another potential leader , especially our major ally.
    Union hack Bill calls a successful multi-billionaire ‘barking mad’ , which shows what a classless dud he is !
    Little wonder he calls co2 ‘carbon pollution’…. typical scientific illiterate !

    At least Malcom looks the part even though he’s a true b’lver.
    Both Malcom and Abbott agree that Shorten was out of line to hurl such a cheap shot .
    How would Carbon Bill like to cop an insult like that from Trump .
    Imagine the Marxist ABC presstitute outrage if that were to happen .

    The only barking mad/ratbags are the True B’lvers or even worse the True B’lver Pretenders ….such as El Presidente Obummer , Hitlery Clinton , and our very own Carbon Bill .

    Its either Trump or the choice is this >> https://i.imgflip.com/lzmxi.jpg

    80

  • #
    KinkyKeith

    The political comment here has been very useful.

    Roy has given a good critique of candidate Trump which, in a saner world would be more relevant than now.

    In Australia, over the last 45 years, politicians have developed and refined the art of vote getting to a level of sophistication that does them proud.

    The cost to the taxpaying workers has been extreme; years of undeclared slavery, there can be no other description, in order to fund the new Compassion Industry which benefits no one but politicians who are morally bankrupt. Even those who think that the politicians are giving them a free ride do not benefit but are caught in a situation they cant escape from.

    At least in the USA citizens have a real chance of expressing their disgust at their politicians neglecting the real issues.

    By installing Trump they are saying Enough!!

    KK.

    160

    • #
      Yonniestone

      I found the negativity to Roy’s opinion interesting, such is the discontent with conservatives in the current political sphere that a ‘close enough is good enough’ attitude has taken hold, and I seriously don’t blame them considering the options.

      However I see nothing wrong with demanding certain standards with a leader of a party that you take seriously and hold dear, indeed if standards don’t exist then there’s nothing to measure up against where public performance is concerned and we’ve sadly seen the results of this system mostly due to lazy voter habits.

      61

  • #
    SG500

    The man is a lunatic. He is riding a swell of thoughtless rage and hatred by pandering to it and promising whatever is needed to get them to roar in agreement. He is virulently anti-trade, dangerously nationalist, and arguably both racist and sexist. He has failed to curb the violence of his followers, and in some cases has pledged to defend their assaults on detractors in court. He is blaming the ills of the country on a specific group and promising to make them pay reparation and face punishment for such. He is hearkening back to a notional previous national greatness, blaming others for its decline, and promising to bring it back.

    This campaign looks like it’s been cribbed from 1932 Germany.

    228

    • #

      And thus does the hate flow… what a grab bag of vague, unsubstantiated fantasies.

      Trump supporters are being violent against Trump at his own rallies right? Even Rachel Maddow can see which team is violent. Sanders supporters are attacking even Democrat women. Who’s the sexist? Have you asked Sanders to stop them?

      273

      • #
        SG500

        First off, please don’t assume my politics. I was a Rubio supporter before he dropped, and right now I’m desperately hoping for a third party run (But attacking my credentials instead of my argument is something I hope you don’t stoop to).

        You want substantiation?

        Pandering to his audience – He’s shifted his stance radically on ISIS, abortion, deportation, torture, visas, Muslims, and the KKK, often within the same month or the same INTERVIEW. Politicians shift, yes, but you usually need to go back 5-10 years.
        http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/full-list-donald-trump-s-rapidly-changing-policy-positions-n547801

        Anti-Trade – He’s against NAFTA, the TPP, and wants a 35% tariff on Mexican imports.
        http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Donald_Trump_Free_Trade.htm

        Nationalist – Do I really need to cite every one of his ‘we don’t win anymore… I’ll make us win again’ and ‘make America great again’ talking points?

        Violence of his supporters – I don’t condone violence on either side, but Trump’s supporters are guilty of it too, and Trump has both TOLD them to attack protestors, and promised to cover their fees.
        http://wonkette.com/599547/another-dude-gets-punched-at-trump-rally-because-thats-what-happens-now
        http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2016/03/donald-trump-violent-supporters-legal-fees
        http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/will-donald-trump-cover-legal-fees-fan-who-assaulted-protester

        Blaming ills on a specific group – His list of targets include immigrants, muslims, and mexicans. I can’t be bothered to throw links against muslims, as the ones above promoting indiscriminate military attacks and torture should be enough.
        https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/08/donald-trumps-false-comments-connecting-mexican-immigrants-and-crime/

        Hearkening back to previous national greatness – I’m sorry that I rephrased ‘make America great again.’

        Blaming others for its decline – see my sources on trade and blame above

        Promising to bring it back – Fairly self-evident.

        28

        • #

          In country with over 300 million people it’s no surprise you can find a few examples that are “guilty of it too” (“too”). The protests at Trump rallies are en mass and repeated, but you already knew that didn’t you?

          Feel the Hate – in your wonkette link Trump is Hitler already?
          Look, if you are here in parody, thanks. Keep it coming.

          PS: Thanks to us having no free speech here 18C and all, we can’t discuss issues of race or religion. Damn shame. You are polarising the narrative to a mindless level and I’d like to say a lot more… but I can’t moderate that discussion.

          [Jo, You are not the only one who wishes you could get into those issues.] AZ

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          • #
            SG500

            I would condemn the protestors too, but that wasn’t what the article was talking about and is irrelevant to the argument. Only one side is having their head egg them on. The others haven’t to my knowledge denounced their protestors, but again, we’re not talking about them.

            The Wonkette link doesn’t mention Hitler at all except to describe some of his policies as ‘hitler-esque.’ Anyone familiar with Hitler’s actual slogans and rhetoric (including actual holocaust survivors* and experts on fascism and naziism**) can see that they are. That is not an inaccurate description.

            And how am I the one polarizing the narrative? You ask for substantiation, I give it, you don’t bother to refute any of it, and claim I’m being mindless… Despite some other really well thought out and substantiated arguments on this comment list being left completely alone.***

            Disagree with me, fine, but back it up. You can’t seem to.

            * http://www.thewrap.com/are-hitler-trump-comparisons-fair-a-holocaust-survivor-tells-his-son/
            ** http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2016/02/is_donald_trump_a_fascist_an_expert_on_fascism_weighs_in.html
            *** comment 30, 31, and 33 to start.

            03

            • #

              “Only one side is having their head egg them on.”

              Find a quote where Trump tells his supporters to go to Democrat speeches and get violent.

              Most of the violence is coming from the Sanders -Hillary camp. Deal with it. Have you written anywhere to protest that they are not speaking out to stop it, or do you just say you don’t condone violence while you ignore most of it?

              “The others haven’t to my knowledge denounced their protestors, but again, we’re not talking about them.”

              Actually we are. This is your weasel way of pretending you can call out a couple of badly behaved Trump supporters and ignore the real issue. Let me know when Sanders or Hillary cancel a speech due to violence of Republicans.

              As for Hitler-esque. — By that weak reasoning everyone can be called that if you reframe and exaggerate their message enough. — gone 99% Godwin. If you exaggerate the non-existent likeness you too can make any discussion meaningless. Is trump proposing war? Is he talking concentration camps? Quote him word for word with a link for context. Or are you an empty hand clutching at straws to fuel your hate?

              The Holocaust survivor has nothing about Trump save from the most scant of vague inference about likenesses in the phrases used in commentary of the time. This reasoning impressed you?

              I did refute your key point, read my replies again. You ignored it.

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        • #
          AndyG55

          Easy.. then don’t vote for him.

          Vote for Hillary or Bernie instead.. or just don’t vote

          A Rudio supporter you said? …

          Never seen SOOOOO much sore grapes from a supporter of a very minor non-player.

          50

        • #
          Manfred

          You call that substantiation SG500? Really? That’s laughable.
          If you really wanted to dig for the truth I’m certain you’d have done better than the list of sources you cited.
          Now, by way of illustration, the very latest is presented below regarding the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) from the UK Met Office, which currently appears to be experiencing an ‘on the road to Damascus’ moment.

          UK Met Office today: Gulf Stream Slowdown Due To Nature Not Climate Change.

          Natural long term cycles in the ocean and not climate change are behind the well publicised slow down in the Gulf Stream that has been observed in recent years, according to new research from Met Office scientists.

          But, as you well know, the MSM propaganda choir have already stated their political position with the usual settled certainty seen in climate ‘science’.

          Wikipedia: Shutdown of thermohaline circulation.

          A shutdown or slowdown of the thermohaline circulation is an effect of global warming on a major ocean circulation.

          Independent: Gulf Stream is slowing down faster than ever, scientists say.

          We conclude that the slowdown many have described is in fact already underway and it is outside of any natural variation,” Professor Rahmstorf said.

          The Washington Post: Global warming is now slowing down the circulation of the oceans — with potentially dire consequences.

          This could slow or even eventually shut down the circulation. In the scientifically panned 2004 blockbuster film “The Day After Tomorrow,” it is precisely such a shutdown that triggers a New Ice Age, and utter global disaster and chaos.

          That’s not going to happen, say scientists. Not remotely.

          Nonetheless, the new research finds that global warming does indeed seem to be slowing down the circulation. And while hardly catastrophic, that can’t be good news.

          About News: How Are Global Warming and the Gulf Stream Connected? If melting glaciers deflect warm Gulf Stream, U.S. and Europe may freeze.

          To McGuire, these uncertainties underscore that fact that human-induced global warming is “nothing more nor less than a great planetary experiment, many of the outcomes of which we cannot predict.” Whether or not we can trim our addiction to fossil fuels might just be the determining factor in whether global warming wreaks havoc around the world, or just causes us minor annoyances.

          Scientific American: Did a Slow Gulf Stream Make the East Coast Blizzard Worse? One oceanographer says changing ocean currents amped up snowfall.

          Climate models project a slowdown of AMOC by 2100 if nations continue emitting greenhouse gases at present-day rates. .. …that the slowdown is persistent and linked to global warming. Climate models simulating the AMOC slowdown out to 2100 have predicted this cold blob in the North Atlantic and a simultaneous ocean warming on the U.S. East Coast, according to Rahmstorf.

          My guess is that you might try harder, but you don’t want to.

          50

        • #
          KinkyKeith

          Nafta

          Must admit I haven’t much knowledge of how the USA functions but I do recall reading about Nafta and it sounded like a cartel used by the elites to scr£w everybody. Lawyers get rich dealing with all the government generated paperwork and attendant conflict.

          You writing suggests that you are a conduit and don’t really know what you are writing about.

          KK

          40

          • #
            AndyG55

            Morning KK, and a beautiful day it is, if a tad chilly, in laid-back Newcastle 🙂

            30

            • #
              AndyG55

              Day off work too… will I do the mowing.. or will I go for a cup of coffee down at Mereweather.

              ooo.. I could even push myself , and do both !!

              30

              • #
                KinkyKeith

                Haven’t seen any ” hazard reduction” up your way for quite a while and the bluff North of Glenrock is looking nice and green now.

                All’s well in the city with very low CO2 levels and no shark sightings.

                KK

                20

    • #
      KinkyKeith

      SG

      The man may be a lunatic, but he seems to be the chosen representative of those who have been ignored and ripped off by the current ruling political class.

      Perhaps a long overdue message is being delivered to the next crop of politicians who line up with the hope of being elected.

      Pull your sox up. Do your job. Stop sending our tax dollars to the U.N. where you hope to buy a position on this august body after you leave elected politics.

      KK

      151

      • #
        FIN

        KK, I get that a lot of people are pissed off with the current state of politics and the way the average punter is totally screwed by the political class and the yawning gap between rich and poor (I am too). Bear in mind this largely stems from 30 odd years of obsession by the Republicans for the totally discredited theory of supply side economics that still gets trotted out today by politicians everywhere including many in the LNP. It’s a zombie myth that will not die no matter how much evidence is piled against it.

        The problem is that people take the view that it can’t get any worse if they elect a lunatic like Trump but you don’t have to be much of a student of history to know that things can always be worse, possibly much worse. The triumph of the Republicans has been the ability to con the average punter in to voting against their own best interests. Trump is scary, he even scares his own side. The idea that a “successful” (how many times has he been bankrupt?) business man will make a successful politician is just rubbish. You cannot fire the nation if it doesn’t toe the line. Electing narcissists doesn’t normally work out too well, we should know, we’ve elected a couple recently.

        18

        • #

          The Zombie myth is the Keynesian one which suits the parasites so much they keep ignoring how it fails.

          “Voting against their own best interests” — what condescending pap. Trump is scary to the big-government freeloaders. That’s a totally rational response from them. He might cut off the supply that matters — the gravy train.

          130

        • #
          Sane Canadian

          Just look to Canada, we got stuck with a narcissist spawn of a spouse abusing megalomaniac and a bi-polar drug addict…

          51

        • #
          KinkyKeith

          You seem a little “one eyed” there FIN.

          Politicians from all parties are on the gravy train and that whole “grab it while you can” mentality needs to be halted in its tracks.

          Politicians must never spend more money than they collect.

          KK

          40

      • #
        SG500

        So… because a group of people want him, that makes him fit to lead and immune to criticism? He has outright said he will say what he needs to in order to win; his supporters are going to get burned if God-forbid he get into the Oval Office. If you want change, you push for change using a sound policy, not populism and hatred.

        As far as the UN is concerned, the last date when figures were available pegs the US contribution to the UN at .2% (Not TWO percent, POINT TWO percent) of the federal budget. Considering a lot of that goes to disaster relief and other humanitarian efforts, are you seriously going to make that the budgetary hill you want to defend?

        27

        • #
          Manfred

          Obama’s teleprompted rhetoric for ‘change’ was Marxist code. You had no idea what you were getting. Trump is crystal.
          Obama foisted a divisiveness on the US, a misery and hopelessness, both spawned out of a plethora of minority interests exemplifying cultural Marxism at its very best. He created an Orwellian Ministry of Truth in the EPA, used the IRS as a political tool against opposition, imposed edict and diktat from the WH without legal authority, and made talking about bathrooms the heated American conversation of the moment.

          He is bereft of leadership and vision. Abetted by the MSM he has tormented people into endlessly gazing at their navels and worrying about the weather. Good riddance.

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    • #
      Yonniestone

      Hey SG500 you forgot the /sarc. but truly funny satire there, thanks for the LOL 🙂

      131

    • #
      AndyG55

      Ah, SG500 looks like he is another Bernie or Hillary supported.

      Sad for him. He will just have to learn how to cope.

      102

      • #
        SG500

        Rubio, actually, before he dropped out.

        I just possess a brain, and an awareness of what politicians at the head of angry mobs tend to do to countries which elect them.

        26

        • #
          AndyG55

          “politicians at the head of angry mobs tend to do to countries which elect them.”

          Then whatever you do, don’t vote for Sanders or Clinton !

          They are the ones bringing the anger and despite..

          Trump brings HOPE (well-founded or not), and that really scares the bejes out of the Democrats

          40

    • #
      AndyG55

      “He has failed to curb the violence of his followers”

      You mean when the protect themselves against Bernie’s rabble rousers?

      112

    • #
      el gordo

      SG

      Trump is a populist with all the trappings of a bully boy, but there should be no doubting his sincerity. He is honest and direct on climate change, which is the only game in town when you want to eradicate mass delusion.

      So he strikes a chord with ordinary people who agree with his sentiments on making American great again, but unfortunately for Trump his own party conservatives won’t support him, which is not a good look.

      Can’t see him getting up unless he does something truly revolutionary, like run as an independent.

      61

      • #
        SG500

        That’s the problem. He’s back and forthed so much (Hell, until 2011 he was a Democrat) I have no idea WHAT he’ll be sincere about, and I refuse to accept the risk that he decides to be sincere on killing terrorists’ families and bringing back Smoot Hawley, instead of the some of the more sane things he’s said between such ludicrous notions.

        Fine, yes, make America great again. What does that mean? How are you going to do it? What specific policies will you enact? That he’s answered that differently every time he’s asked (In one of the early debates his answer to foreign policy was essentially ‘I’ll get elected, magic will happen, and everyone will like me’) tells me he doesn’t have a specific plan at all.

        36

        • #
          Rereke Whakaaro

          That’s the problem. He’s back and forthed so much (Hell, until 2011 he was a Democrat)

          So loyalty to the party trumps (sorry) taking actions that will provide optimum benefits to society overall?

          But that is OK. Nobody expects anybody who is so close to the action, as you are, to think rationally.

          You have obviously vested a lot of emotional capital in being a Democrat, and here he is, walking away from you, and taking a significant portion of the electorate with him.

          I feel your pain, brother.

          71

        • #
          el gordo

          ‘I have no idea WHAT he’ll be sincere about…’

          Mass delusion on climate change.

          ‘What specific policies will you enact?’

          Instead of building a wall on the Mexican border he will think of ways to make that country rich, which would stem the flow of people coming north. Donald is creative and mercurial so he comes across as being unstable and not fit for public office.

          ‘…make America great again. What does that mean?’

          Its a rhetorical device, harking back to a bygone era, to give people hope that its not the end of US power and influence. Too little too late methinks.

          02

      • #

        “Can’t see him getting up unless he does something truly revolutionary, like run as an independent.”

        Look again! He is an independent! He has the RNC right by the gonads! The RNC goes with the Donald, or there is no Repugnican party!

        50

        • #
          el gordo

          If the RNC don’t support him then he will be dependent on crowd funding.

          Hilary has a billion dollars set aside for the campaign and I don’t think Donald could match that without the RNC.

          00

          • #

            “If the RNC don’t support him then he will be dependent on crowd funding.”
            I know that, you know that, all know that! See how clever!
            Beware, may you live in interesting times!!

            10

            • #
              el gordo

              Independents don’t win elections, James Monroe was a standout but he was connected to the founding fathers.

              00

    • #
      Sane Canadian

      “Violence from his followers”?? Apparently you haven’t paid attention. The violence is comign from the (paid?) protesters trying to demonize Trump. They are giving him more legitimacy with every violent act.

      70

    • #
      Pat Frank

      SG500, I’ve been reading R. J. Evans’ “The Third Reich in Power.” It’s a chilling read about a true power-mad demagogue. Hitler had 2 million brown shirts and 50,000 SS in uniform in 1932 prior to his election to government.

      Trump’s campaign looks nothing whatever like Hitler and his Nazis in 1932.

      90

      • #
        Yonniestone

        Exactly Pat, people going full Goodwin on anyone that resembles the Third Reich in their mind really should brush up on history, there may be strong traits of it in organizations since but nothing like how it was, interesting SG500 mentions inciting public disorder to override freedoms as I would use Trumps failed Chicago rally as organized chaos with proven links from the left/Democrat leaders.

        In fact I personally experienced this in Coburg in Victoria on Saturday, we watched the Police escort masked hard left socialists some armed with weapons from the train station to our rally point, if people think this public support of crime by their protectors won’t effect them then the reality will sting harder than the capsicum spray I copped!

        80

        • #
          Pat Frank

          Yonniestone, are you saying that the Coburg police force, in official capacity, assisted armed partisans intent on violence?

          10

      • #
        Rereke Whakaaro

        The only similarity I can see is that Hitler in 1932, and Trump in 2016, is in generating, and building upon popular appeal, and through that, taking the high ground.

        Perhaps America needs a charismatic leader right now? They haven’t had one, since Kennedy.

        70

      • #
        Manfred

        The US EPA is aiming at 15,000 employees. They’re not quite yet wearing uniforms.

        20

  • #
    Ross

    A video on Trump’s AGW stance –calls it quite clearly and pulls no punches.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdqc27I7HGA

    80

  • #
    pat

    28 May: UK Telegraph: Christopher Booker: The founding members of some of Britain’s greatest charities must be spinning in their graves
    It is intriguing to contrast the current agendas of some of our more celebrated environmental charities with the aims of those who first set them up. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), for instance, originated in 1889 with some Victorian ladies wanting “to discourage the wanton destruction of birds” – which for decades was what the RSPB very laudably did.
    Yet its latest publication – a report headed “The RSPB’s 2050 Energy Vision” – says little about birds. Not only does it call for Britain’s target for cutting CO2 emissions to be raised from an improbable 80 per cent to an impossible 100 per cent, it also says “our research shows the UK could have six times the current level of onshore wind turbines”. Since we already have 5,500 of them, the RSPB would thus be happy to see 25,000 more littering our countryside.
    Yet studies show that the prime victims of turbine blades are birds and bats, notably birds of prey that like to hunt over just the kind of landscapes that are most profitable for wind-farm owners. The Spanish Society for Ornithology found that Spain’s 18,000 turbines kill up to six million birds a year, averaging as many as 300 birds per turbine. This confirmed the findings of a scientific paper 20 years ago, which discovered that each German turbine killed on average 309 birds a year. More recently, a German government ornithologist estimated that every year they kill between 200 and 300 red kites alone. One vast Californian wind farm killed so many birds, including many rare eagles, it was shut down…
    Then consider the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), founded in 1961 by Prince Philip, Prince Bernhard and leading conservationists to protect the world’s wildernesses and endangered species…READ ALL, INCL “Did no one tell the flowers about climate change?”…
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2016/05/28/the-founding-members-of-some-of-britains-greatest-charities-must/

    71

  • #

    Wind farms are not only bird and bat killers, they require great taxpayer subsidies to “stay in “business”. Trump (although not my first choice) clearly stated this recently. The same for solar power. He knows about solar and said that the payback for the solar investment averages 36 years, but solar panels only last 10 years on the average. Not a good investment – according to Trump.
    My first choice was Cruz, who knows all this too, but now we have a choice between Hillary (socialist) and Trump (popularist) – not necessarily conservative, but better than a socialist such as Hillary or Sanders (honest socialist).

    121

  • #
    pat

    28 May: Townhall: Paul Driessen:SEC issues Climate Chaos “Guidance”
    Shouldn’t wind turbine companies have to disclose that generating just 20% of US energy with wind power would require some 186,000 turbines, 19,000 miles of new transmission lines, 18,000,000 acres of land, and 270,000,000 tonnes of concrete, steel, copper, fiberglass and rare earths? Is that sustainable?…
    Perhaps the 2016 elections will finally bring long overdue change…READ ALL
    http://townhall.com/columnists/pauldriessen/2016/05/28/sec-issues-climate-chaos-guidance-n2170020

    60

    • #

      Here for Labor’s goal of 50% renewable by 2030 it’s about 50,000 MW of wind turbines, that is 12,500 x 4MW turbines, from 25,000 to 35,700 sq, km of suitable land plus 10,000 MW of gas turbines as back-up when production drops below 10%. which can be quite often.

      10

  • #
    Another Ian

    Another view on Trump

    http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=363766

    Via

    “Why Trump Won, and Why the Current Crop of Purported Leaders Must Be Swept Aside”

    http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2016/05/here-tell-these-58.html

    50

    • #
      SG500

      “It’s time to start treating them as what they are — dishonest liars trying to control you.

      And it’s time to start treating them as straight up internal enemies.”

      I’m sorry, no. These people have as much of a right to their opinions as you do, and it is THIS EXACT SENTIMENT coming from their end that you’re chafing against. You need to get along with these people, because they have almost the same amount of voting power, population, and socio-economic pull as you do. The ‘establishment’ (lord I hate that term) Republicans understand that; you give ground where you can so you can hold the hills that matter.

      I don’t want rude leaders who tell their opposition to shut up and step aside, because I can imagine a world where those tactics are being used against me, and I don’t like it. Compromise is something most children are taught in kindergarten. People who demand everything be their way or they’re going to take their ball and go home (or declare you their enemy) are known as selfish, bullies, or just plain stupid. The concept also applies to politics.

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        Lionell Griffith

        Right to their opinions, beliefs, and comments? Yes but NOT actions against me and mine!

        Question? Is there anything you won’t compromise? Where is YOUR line that you will fight to keep them from crossing?

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        AndyG55

        “I don’t want rude leaders who tell their opposition to shut up and step aside,”

        Are you saying that poor little Rubio didn’t have the balls to stand up and fight?

        Instead went meekly back into the mire. No sort of leader, it seems.

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        AndyG55

        “These people have as much of a right to their opinions as you do, and it is THIS EXACT SENTIMENT coming from their end that you’re chafing against”

        And the American people will display there opinion. (Rudio already has.. he wimped out.)

        It seems you will have Trump or Hillary to choose from.

        Which way will you go? or will you also wimp out from expressing your choice.

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        Annie

        I accidently upticked you SG500. I believe people have a right to their own opinions but NOT to force them onto me and make me live according to their ideas.

        I do not overly care for Trump but I do love the way he is ripping into Political Correctness..hooray!

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          KinkyKeith

          Hi Annie
          Probably most of us don’t care too much for Trumps moral values, his prime attraction is that he gives a chance to dump on the current system of parti politics. Are the alternates any better?

          We could even say that Trump is being used by the disillusioned voters, a mutual alliance between Mr T and them.

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    Rinaldo

    Donald Trump –

    “TRUST ME, I’M A POLITICIAN.”

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      Robert R

      “TRUST ME, I’M A POLITICIAN.”

      It seems on the contrary that Trump is saying….. “TRUST ME BECAUSE, I’M NOT A POLITICIAN”
      and that’s why he’s appealing to so many.

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      tom0mason

      Politician, politicians, politicians…

      The Democrat lobbyist agree with the steering committee of community organizers will set the policy agenda that outlines the candidates position for the advertising campaign.

      While the Republican lobbyist agree with the organizing committee of industrial and financial power-brokers will set the policy agenda through the publicity professionals.

      Meanwhile Trump agrees that he’s going to do it his way, when you all vote him in! And to hell with the lobbyists…

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    Leon Danby

    I view Trump as a bit of a reset button. Might work and might not but after 4 years there will be a different direction/position presented and democracy gives the right to make another decision. The current aussie election campaign is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. I hope in the last two weeks we get some direction. On top of that I hope the constituents realise that right at this moment we do need a senate that will actually be sympathetic to the house of reps mandate and not be driven by minority agendas.

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    Peter C

    I am currently in Washington DC, in company with a delegate of the International Women Judges conference.
    Last night I went with a few judges to dinner in a restaurant. It turned out that President Obama was having dinner in a side room in the restaurant. This caused great excitement among the ladies, who mostly left the table and lined up on the sidewalk outside. They were rewarded with a glimpse of the POTUS as he left via a side door and got into his vehicle.

    Today is the annual Rolling Thunder veterans motorcycle parade. It promises to be spectacular. It seems the Donald Trump will address the vets this afternoon in the Mall. I will see if I can be present. I doubt that I will get any interest from the Australian women judges.

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    observa

    You think Trump is a bit of a buffoon until you see him deal with a real one

    His detractors might be in for a bit of a rude awakening if he gets elected President and they didn’t have much time for Ronald Reagan at the time either and he and Maggie kicked over the Berlin Wall among other achievements. Meanwhile Hilary and Bernie are still slugging it out for the right to run while the Donald has clean air.

    As much as we might pooh pooh the US Presidential race and the razzamatazz it’s a crucible of ideas and a blowtorch applied to the participants and guess who’s beginning to talk serious policies now? Murricans live in interesting times again.

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    stan stendera

    Best thread ever, maybe on the whole internet.

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    doubtingdave

    Yes Stan , thankyou Jo for this post and allowing the thread some breathing space , its given me chance to pause and consider the views of the Trump doubters , i sometimes comment that both the left and the right political parties are just two wings on the same establishment bird , the initial choice at the beginning of the American election , a Clinton or Bush , seemed to confirm that , but Jeb didnt get the protection of the superdelegates ( made up of trade unions and establishment lobbyists ) that Clinton enjoys , it seems to me that Trump is neither a Republican or a Democrat , but mostly a political agnostic and some would argue he should of stood as an independent , but he knew he wouldnt get as much traction trying to take on both Bush and Clinton and the major party machinery and MSM control that they both have , some traditional GOP Conservatives dont like Trump because to them he is a parasite and the Republican party is the host he is feeding off , but if he takes Republicans to the White House defeating Clinton , surely its to your mutual benefit , get on board the Trump train .

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    • #
      ROM

      doubtingdave @ # 53
      ——-
      My still evolving view!

      Trump is setting and promoting his own agenda for his possible presidency.

      Clinton is having her agenda set for her by others who intend to get the maximum political advantage from her possible presidency.

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    pat

    MSM shilling for the insurance industry again:

    30 May: ABC: Climate change risks threaten home values
    By AM business editor Peter Ryan
    Research by the Climate Institute warns the potential damage bill from coastal erosion is conservatively estimated at $88 billion, excluding the value of land.
    With growing evidence of changing weather patterns, the institute said governments, insurers and especially major banks need to provide better information to investors.
    Climate Institute chief executive John Connor said more than 2 per cent of all houses are already exposed to moderate to extreme risks of flooding.
    “Growing climate impacts mean the costs of these and other hazards exacerbated by climate change will have worsening repercussions for households, the financial sector and ultimately the economy itself,” Mr Connor said…
    The claims are contained in the Climate Institute’s report “There Goes the Neighbourhood”, which examines the climate change risks to Australian housing and the overall financial sector…
    The research comes as the insurance industry continues to lobby local governments for more accurate flood mapping data to better address risks…
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-30/climate-change-risks-threaten-home-values/7458144

    links to the report:

    30 May: The Conversation: How can your bank help reduce climate change risks to your home?
    by Tayanah O’Donnell, Research Fellow, University of Canberra
    The Climate Institute has today released a report (LINK) detailing the critical role Australian housing plays in the economy, and the risks housing faces with a changing climate…
    Westpac has a Climate Change Position Statement and both the Commonwealth Bank and NAB have committed in reducing carbon. But more needs to be done for housing…
    Banks are already making moves to restrict lending based on location.
    But the report outlines several other things banks could do, such as…
    http://theconversation.com/how-can-your-bank-help-reduce-climate-change-risks-to-your-home-60049

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    Egor TheOne

    What we need is a Trump here ….instead of ‘its the most exciting time to be an agile thief’

    Or ‘its the most exciting time to lose your job to overseas slave labour’

    Or ‘its the most exciting time to pay a Great Big New Tax’

    Or ‘its the most exciting time to be infested with climate medievalists (true b’lvers)’

    We need ‘a Trump’ here , to rise up and clean out the Marxists/Totalitarians that are destroying our country .

    The Greens should be marched off in Straight Jackets and most of the Alp and at least half the Coalition should be breaking rocks in the midday sun for what they are doing/have done , to our country.

    We need a Donald Trump to take out the trash ,of which there is much !

    Vote One ‘The Donald’, Everywhere !

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    pat

    29 May: NPR: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz Says Government Can Help Clean Energy Innovation
    Government officials in charge of energy policy from around the world are scheduled to gather in San Francisco on Wednesday and Thursday for the seventh Clean Energy Ministerial. It’s a conference to serve as a follow-up to December’s climate change talks in Paris.
    Organizers describe it as the “world’s largest and most forward-leaning countries working together to accelerate the global transition to clean energy.” Along with U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, government officials involved in energy policy from China, Australia, Argentina and Chile are scheduled to attend…
    Secretary Moniz, who was heavily involved in last year’s climate talks, spoke with NPR’s Michel Martin about funding clean energy innovation and why he thinks the Obama administration’s clean energy plans will continue after the election:
    (includes) MONIZ: Well first of all, let me reinforce the point that I will not comment on any candidate’s position. But the Paris agreement is not binding on targets. However, all the steps that have been taken are based upon existing authorities and following what are typically many-year processes spelled out in law to establish rules.
    If any president wants to change those, they will have to go through the same multiyear process to alter those. And so, those will go forward unless, again, a new president and a new Congress decide to redo the entire processes of rule making, and I do not believe there would be a lot of success in that attempt. So I believe what President Obama’s put in place will keep us on our trajectory to meeting our Paris commitments…
    http://www.npr.org/2016/05/29/479942451/energy-secretary-ernest-moniz-says-government-can-help-clean-energy-innovation

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  • #

    IS this the new weekend UNsomepthing? 🙂

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    • #
      KinkyKeith

      Hopefully both would be disappeared soon.

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      • #

        “Hopefully both would be disappeared soon.”
        Huh? This computer with no battery presented “restart is required”!! Hokay did dat! Other three with batteries are still snoozing.
        SNAFU,WTF, Steady on the keel! Can you explain?

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    ROM

    Well at a current 274 [ plus one ! ] comments for this blog post of Jo’s, Trump, unlike a very colourless, uninspiring and unconvincing Hilary Clinton, has certainly stirred the political pot here in Australia as well as in the USA and Canada, in Europe, in Russia, in China and India and the Middle East in no uncertain fashion.

    Yet despite his impact on the international political scene he is still just a candidate for the Presidency and is still far from being elected to the American Presidency which is still months away.
    Plus supposedly being even behind Hilary Clinton in the polls so his election to President is not even assured at all.

    And yet he has stirred up all sorts of very nasty and vicious dregs and a visceral hatred from the his political opposition particularly the hard left watermelon brigade who can’t bear to contemplate any even minor opposition to their agenda , opposition which must be immediately destroyed as far as they are concerned which probably shows just how feared the possibility of his accession to the Presidency has on the “progressives” [ A description which is increasingly leaving a bad taste in my mouth due to the nasty political and social totalitarian inferences that are becoming the descriptive traits of the Progressives everywhere ] agenda.
    An agenda which is likely to be completely destroyed to the horror of the progressives across a goodly portion of the western nations if Trump is elected to the Presidency.

    Say what you like about Trump but he appears to be his own man and not captive or deeply beholden to any group or individuals.

    He is the counter, the product of the backlash to the increasing excesses of the “liberals / progressives” during the eight years of Obama who, in my humble outsider’s opinion, ranks amongst the worst of the modern American Presidents ever unless you are deep into the dictatorial trending Liberal/ Progressive’s agendas.

    Interestingly it seems the Silicon Valley executives who have had dealings with Trump have a very high opinion of him but just won’t admit to this publicly because of the progressives extreme viciousness against anybody who dares to challenge in any way their agenda and ideology.

    Which in itself should give Americans pause to think deeply before voting for Clinton as the liberal / progressives have already openly revealed their hand and their stand over tactics to enforce public compliance with their socialistic dicatorial trending agenda, a taste of which Obama has already inflicted on the USA public through his use of the EPA to enforce his own personal hard line green and ideological liberal progressive beliefs onto America as a nation.

    Meanwhile some Australian [ and European ] political whack jobs most particularly of the left ie; leading politicians and you can guess who here in Australia and in Europe, have the outright stupidity and have demonstrated a complete ignorance and lack of political nouse to openly and publicly call Trump, the potentially next American President who would lead Australia’s major international ally, America, some quite nasty and insulting names.

    And we Australians wonder why we seem to be going nowhere as a nation.

    With political party leaders who call the possible and potential president of the world’s most economically and militarily powerful nation and our major ally some seriously insulting names I guess we should know the answer to that!

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    • #

      “And we Australians wonder why we seem to be going nowhere as a nation.” “With political party leaders who call the possible and potential president of the world’s most economically and militarily powerful nation and our major ally some seriously insulting names I guess we should know the answer to that!”

      Good Thinking! Observe, but do not futz with stuff that can kill you! Nuclear powers are one. A Wasps nest is similar for any individual!

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    Me Kan She

    Wow, Trump is way better and clever than I thought from the beginning ! If I had a vote, he would get my one !

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    Dave in the States

    If you just went by the media’s out of context headlines and sound bites you would think Trump was completely unfit for the job. However, he by-passed the media and the people are sick and tired of the media trying to control how they think anyway. I was lucky enough to catch an unedited speech. He was right on point on every single point. I also caught an op-ed by Trump in small town Nevada newspaper where he laid out the case against big Gov, especially concerning climate and environmental issues vs constitutional protocols. He gets it. He is actually the most fit for the job right now.

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    Rinaldo

    Religions are man made. Government is a religion.

    ……..”And while the mortals may humbly beg their lord for favors, and for permission to do certain things, it is considered blasphemous and outrageous for one of the lowly peasants to imagine himself to be fit to decide which of the “government” god’s “laws” he should follow and which it is okay for him to ignore. Their mantra is, “You can work to try to change the law, but as long as it’s the law, we all have to follow it!”

    http://deadlinelive.info/2011/02/28/government-is-a-religion-larken-rose/

    And knowing the right things to say Donald Trump is whipping up ecclesiastical fervour for his brand of government religion. But look at the devils who are backing him.

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    • #
      KinkyKeith

      The devils backing the others are just as bad and probably worse because they have had their own way for so long.

      KK

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    RAH

    Well this US Citizen has a vote and it will be for Trump. I would have preferred Cruz but elections more often than not are more about voting against someone than for someone. Who Donald Trump really is and what he will really do if elected is an unknown because the guys record on issues is all over the place. But the only other option is not voting to prevent a woman whom I detest so much that I believe she could only make the my country and the world a better place by assuming room temperature from becoming POTUS. I believe Donald has a good chance of preventing that woman from becoming POTUS and so he will get my vote.

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  • #

    The problem with Trump, is that he is not promising free stuff like Sanders and Hillary. Free college, free healthcare, free cell phones, Free everything.
    That will be a hard “nut to crack” with all the 47% who pay no federal income taxes.
    None of this stuff is free. It is payed for by the people who work and make things and pay taxes…

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    • #

      “The problem with Trump, is that he is not promising free stuff like Sanders and Hillary. Free college, free healthcare, free cell phones, Free everything.That will be a hard “nut to crack” with all the 47% who pay no federal income taxes. None of this stuff is free. It is payed for by the people who work and make things and pay taxes…”

      Hey guy,
      I pay no taxes. I receive horrible return on my investment in the SS system! Such cannot keep up with inflation because of ever increasing US debt payments. Disband US departments of homeland-security, commerce, education, energy, state, agriculture, interior, even military until the US economy can afford such frivolity!
      All the best! -will-

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    Amber

    Hillary’s pledge to eliminate coal jobs ,coal companies and even fossil fuel (?) handed millions of votes and States to
    Trump on a silver platter . More importantly she has been pushed around by activists who are not interested in a strong
    USA .

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    Hillary has also pledged to eliminate fracking throughout the USA. No kidding. She is idiotic…

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    • #

      J Philip Peterson May 31, 2016 at 2:07 pm

      “Hillary has also pledged to eliminate fracking throughout the USA. No kidding. She is idiotic…”

      Do not delude yourself! Both [[snip] Hillary] and “the DONALD” Are way, way smarter than ordinary ‘sheepish/voters’. That playing field is no place to go without the best asbestos armor!
      All the best! -will-

      [Editorial discretion applied. We are discouraging name calling. Sorry.] AZ

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        “[Editorial discretion applied. We are discouraging name calling. Sorry.] AZ ”

        Thank you AZ! you are correct! Without name calling, What is your own childhood impression of what a “WITCH” would appear as???

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      • #

        I am trying to think of a milder word to describe Banning Fracking. Didn’t mean to call her a bad name – sorry.

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    Roy Hogue

    And judging by the reception many of my comments have received, I’m the single most unpopular contributor in the history of this blog. It must be a world record.

    But I’m willing to wait for November and beyond if necessary to see what actually happens. It’s been fun (really) and one of the risks of thinking then speaking what you think.

    Thanks, Jo, for the opportunity.

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    Roy Hogue June 1, 2016 at 3:43 am
    “And judging by the reception many of my comments have received, I’m the single most unpopular contributor in the history of this blog. It must be a world record.”

    Hey Junior,
    Please count up all of the red thumbz on Joanne’s site in the last three yearz! You doz one thread an consida youz a winna!! Even Punk Konrad still has you beat! 🙂

    “But I’m willing to wait for November and beyond if necessary to see what actually happens. It’s been fun (really) and one of the risks of thinking then speaking what you think. Thanks, Jo, for the opportunity.”

    I have enjoyed your comments on this thread, even though you seem to have much more certainty in the whole US voting process than I.
    I also hope that Joanne give us more opportunity to discuss what is left of science after this current religious/political jehad of the measurable physical!
    All the best!-will-

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    • #
      Roy Hogue

      Yes, I exaggerated. And if that was the first time anything about politics (or climate change) ever was exaggerated I’d grant you the right to a complaint. But as it is, well…

      No hard feelings on my part by the way. It really was fun.

      And no, I’m not certain at all. But if I read things and the reading comes out the same time after time, especially doubts about a candidate, I can’t stay silent.

      Thanks for the complement.

      20