A nation struggling to get the lights on still:
Well that is a first! Lights in a city in #Venezuela are going crazy on and of and on repeat again. #SinLuz #SinAgua. Some people in Venezuela have now gone 210 hours without lights or either running water. pic.twitter.com/CETnHlNYAT
— Sotiri Dimpinoudis ❁ (@sotiridi) April 3, 2019
‘New York Times’ Journalist Describes An ‘Almost Unimaginable’ Crisis In Venezuela
New York Times journalist Nicholas Casey was in Maracaibo, Venezuela, in March when the country was hit by a six-day blackout… “By the fourth day of the power outage, that was when you started to hear shots getting fired in the street,” Casey says. “People were beginning to loot, and the store owners were coming out to defend their stores.”
The U.N. estimates that it’s upwards of 3 million people who have left. Now remember, this is a country of 30 million people. So we’re talking about 10 percent of the population that has gone.
A few weeks with intermittent power and the country is becoming uninhabitable.
When a government tries to print its way out of trouble by giving away “free” money it seems cheap but costs the whole economy:
Need Cash? It litters the streets of Caracas…. #SocialismKills #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/MoQvLENfmE
— Southwired (@dcooper711) April 3, 2019
Rich one year, down with polio the next. Nature comes back fast:
…this crisis that’s getting worse and worse, because of lack of medicine mainly, people are coming into these countries with diseases that should be controlled in Venezuela — diseases like diphtheria, malaria, tuberculosis have made a huge comeback in Venezuela.
Health data from #Venezuela shows a crisis with severe human rights effects. UN should take lead in emergency response. https://t.co/Uu8zCK9rvl pic.twitter.com/hNpF4FOd6J
— HRWTech (@HRWTech) April 4, 2019
The ultimate Mediscare campaign:
President Maduro forced visiting Cuban doctors to use access to medicine as a way to gain votes for Maduro right before an election
They would start by going house to house to people. … The way that it was being described to me was that essentially you would start by handing people medications that they needed, especially seeing if they had chronic illnesses that they really needed medication for on a regular basis. And then after you start to get their trust, you would start to bring up Maduro. You’d start to bring up politics. You’d ask them, “Are you registered to vote?” And then actually start to make a much harder pitch, like “You need to vote for Maduro. This is where this medicine is coming from,” and ultimately at the end of this there would be a threat, which is that “If you don’t vote for Maduro, there is a possibility that you will lose your medication.
Oxygen tanks and medicines were being withheld from opposition supporters.
The curse of galloping inflation,
Can destroy and bring down a nation,
Best to trade in coins minted,
And dump the notes printed,
To buy food in a dire situation.
— Ruairi
I imagine tjis gets almost no coverage in Australia? At least from my overseas perspective, the ABC doesn’t seem to have much to say, no surprises there, unless I’m mistaken …
260
The ABC is a lost cause, a political commentator on this mornings talkback said that CNN is a centrist news network and Fox is the most biased network ever seen according to the host.
250
I didn’t know I was biased so thank your commentator for me. Then call me biased and I’ll still take biased Fox over CNN.
Now that we’ve disposed of trivia the real question is, who is doing something to help the situation in Venezuela? And the answer seems to be, no one. What has your ABC commentator got to say about that? Probably nothing useful.
40
This site is the only place I have seen anything regarding this disaster.
Nothing on any news channel (but I do not watch ABC news) and whenever I ask my friends about this they also have no knowledge.
It’s a good job we have the UN to oversee us
180
Talking of ‘no coverage’ – has been snotting down (snowing bigly) in the South Island the past 24 hours, accompanied by sub-zero temps in the hills, yet when I listened to the radio simulcast of one of our 2 main TV News weather roundups tonight, nary a mention: the usual cloudy, rain, cooler temps, blah etc. but not a squeak about FREEZING COLD SNOW. Here’s a link to Craigeburn Ski Area just inland of Christchurch, one of only 2 ski areas in NZ where you can go ‘tree skiing’ or in my case ‘tree boarding’. Images update hourly or so –
https://www.metservice.com/skifields/craigieburn
Meanwhile in the northern hemisphere, the Norse gods are sending down frigid whiteout blizzards for the weekend, with another metre in some cases to top up the existing 6 metres snow base in Switzerland, 4 metres in Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, the USA –
https://www.snow-forecast.com/overviews/tips_full
Lucky deniers will be riding / skiing right through into their summer months… who will think of the children!
31
It will get much coverage when it happens here. That we can be certain.
40
Not if Shorten’s socialist Labor cabal is in power, it won’t.
Their ABC is socialist Labor’s equivalent to socialist Venezuela’s Cuban doctors.
52
Speaking of stuff on life support…..another renewables project bites the dust….
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-05/solar-thermal-plant-will-not-go-ahead-in-port-augusta/10973948
A $650 million solar thermal power plant planned for Port Augusta will not go ahead after the company behind it failed to secure commercial finance for the project.
Key points:
* The plant was announced by the former state government in 2017
* It received a Federal Government loan and was promised a State Government electricity contract
* SolarReserve says it cannot secure funding for the project
“SolarReserve’s Aurora Solar Energy Project had been hailed as a new start for Port Augusta after the closure of its coal power station in 2016.
The American company operates a similar plant in the US state of Nevada.
“Rather than solar panels, solar thermal uses heliostats, or mirrors, to concentrate sunlight onto a tower that heats molten salt.
“The heat created is then used to generate steam.
“South Australian Energy Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said SolarReserve contacted him on Sunday and said it would not be able to achieve financial close by the May 31 deadline set by the Government.
“The deadline had already been extended from its original date of February 1, 2018.
“Mr van Holst Pellekaan said the Government had done “everything it possibly can to support this project”, including extending deadlines, agreeing to changes to the project to add photovoltaic solar panels and introducing SolarReserve to potential financiers.
“We have remained ready willing and able as a new State Government for the last 12 months to deliver on our side of the bargain,” he said.
“Former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill announced the 150-megawatt solar thermal power plant had been secured for Port Augusta in August 2017, as part of his government’s push into renewables following the 2016 statewide blackout.
“Mr Weatherill said the project would be ready to go in 2020 and would supply 100 per cent of the State Government’s needs for 20 years.
“Earlier in 2017, the Federal Government confirmed it would grant $110 million in a concessional equity loan to support the project.
“The loan — first flagged in the lead-up to the 2016 federal election — was guaranteed in a deal struck between the Government and former independent senator Nick Xenophon to get his support for company tax cuts legislation.
“The Government’s energy needs are being supplied under a bridging contract by SIMEC ZEN Energy, the company run by British steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta.
“It said its contract expired in November next year, and had an extension option if required.
40
None of these schemes, whether sun or tide or wind, is ever anything more than a search for subsidies.
I keep on hearing Barnum’s dictum that nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the general public.
Have they paid back the Federal Government loan or is that a stupid question?
How is Mr Gupta’s wind powered steel in nearby Whyalla shaping up? Naybe he will prove me wrong since, after all, he is actually using his own money.
30
Jo.
What an interview to circulate
This is highly educational
Do your selves a favour and download this .
World In Midst of Carbon Drought (w/ Prof. William Happer, Princeton University)
That is according to Professor William Happer of Princeton University. The renowned physicist says when it comes to carbon dioxide, there’s more good than bad. He goes on to say most of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-9UlF8hkhs
221
This is the man that President Trump has assigned to lead the President’s Commission on Climate Security. National Geographic went ballistic, while the Heartland Institute was overjoyed.
190
Happer’s red team should be able to convince the western world to throw off the sack cloth. We are saved.
60
Unfortunately it has not happened yet and every day it does not happen makes it less likely. The science agencies are fighting it hard because they all signed off on the hyper alarmist National Climate Assessment. Likewise the Pentagon for their alarmist reports. Some of the political advisors are saying that given the absurdity of the Green New Deal there is no need to question the alarmist science. Trump is having great fun with the GND.
Skeptics are pushing hard but it is by no means a done deal. It may simply disappear like the red team did. Sadly.
110
Thanks for that insight.
20
David all those that you mention are funded by banks/financial institutions.
If the financial agencies like the debt proposal, they fund it.
The pentagon, governments, various science agencies, the green new deal…all and more are funded by financial institutions/banks/etc…if they (the banks/money printers) do not like the New Debt, then the respective agencies, governments, climate scientists etc are abandoned and they disappear in a puff of financial smoke/CO2.
40
Happer is marvelous, very low key yet right on the money all the way through the interview.
Do notice what he said about the melting of arctic ice. All that ice is floating on water and is susceptible to heat from below to a far greater degree than from air above. Just compare the heat available from contact with a square meter of water with the heat available from contact with a square meter of air.
I’ve never heard anyone else point that out (someone may have and I missed it) but I’ll be a little immodest and point out that if you go back in the archives of this blog you’ll find that I pointed out that very fact years ago. In fact, I said that if that ice had not been constantly melting from below, the weight of accumulated snow above would have no doubt pushed that ice sheet all the way to the bottom by now. No one would send nuclear submarines under the ice to the north pole.
It seemed so simple then and still seems simple now. All anyone had to do was compare the specific heat of air and water. There’s no doubt about which would have the greater effect on that ice sheet.
Sorry to do a little bragging but it feels good to be vindicated by a Princeton professor of physics.
10
“If you don’t vote for Maduro, there is a possibility that you will lose your medication.”
This is a lot like the US Democrats like to do. Vote for us or the evil Republicans will take your healthcare! They’ll take your welfare. They’ll make you actually do work!
70
Rather like Labor here after Shorten’s budget reply – vote for us and we will save you the financial pain of cancer. Vote for the Libs and suffer you sick people.
61
The MSM have conveniently forgotten the bread queue so common in communist countries…..nothing on supermarket shelves….and other fine examples of the chronic “fail” of communism…
150
Ah Socialism. Beautiful one day, perfect the next.
90
At least they have somewhere to run even without wealth. Once the grand socialist experiment starts in Australia choices are limited.
70
New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand, where the mountains are so tall (apologies to Monty Python).
60
That and The Hitchikers Guide….crinkly bits around the fjords….
20
you would run towards NZ to escape a socialist experiment???
20
PNG.
Tom pisin.
Laba and Libil Partis have demonstrated nothing but Self Interest.
KK
42
“Tok” pisin.
31
Laba an Libil Parties em e nogut. Em e nogut tasol.
41
Em e nogut pinis.
Em e nogut toomas
21
Basil Fawlty: “and there are two pidgins in the water tank.”
00
The political aspects of an economy are determined by the creditors/banks/etc these days.
If the creditor does not like socialism, or vast debt to pay for re-newables, then they don’t fund/print money/debt the respective government…
Amazing people still think in terms of government policies and not in terms of creditor policies.
30
Let’s print our way into the future…is one scenario amongst more than one possible scenarios.
Either way, the bank always determines the outcome. And microbes and various mitochondria.
10
Where was the news about the US Freezing Venezuala bank accounts ? here
So they have no access to cash..
Or the trade embargo against them ?
Or their gold bullion being frozen in the UK.here
Or sanctions against their oil sales here
Yes Venezuala is a crap system…
But if you want regime change by the US..which seems to be the implied angle in the news..then great..the US can now take over ever country that has vast amounts of oil…because its not the oil they are after right..its “to save the people”..
If people think its not about loil..then they might as well go back to sleep..
And if you believe the New York Times is credible as an unbiased news source..what can I say. 🙂
101
Vz problems predate any sanctions, despite the propaganda Vz embassy officials have been trying to feed the BBC and other western MSM.
And in case you hadn’t noticed, the USA now has oil and gas coming out of its ears.
Vz destroyed it’s own oil export industry and pushed for 100% hydro, which failed for lack of rain/mismanagement, and that was when the problems really started, instead of using the vast fossil fuel resources to generate electricity.
110
Come on Grim, you cant construct an anti USA narrative around that lot can you?
40
Doesn’t Venezuela now have foreign helpers from Russia. Not sure how the U.S. is going to profit from Venezuela.
61
The USA has its hands full with its own basket cases in California, Illinois and New York and that whole southern border thing.
90
“When a government tries to print its way out of trouble by giving away “free” money it seems cheap but costs the whole economy:”
Well it would be good to make one thing clear …….and that is that governments do not print money any more…this enormous responsibility is the sole domain of privately owned banks, central banks….
Just clearing that up …
50
Governments give central banks that power and appoint the soothsayers there. It’s a mere technicality so governments appear to be blameless.
Governments keep choosing more debt, more gifts, and spend more than they have. That’s just another word for “printing”.
60
Bring back a gold standard.
43
Money “IS” Debt.
See: “Money as debt”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AC6RSau7r8
Fractional reserve banking at its finest. You’ll be amazed to understand how “money” is created out of thin air + a signature for debt.
00
Important points to make. It would never occur to me to support socialism, Maduro or chavismo. Next door, Morales’ Bolivian leftism may not be as kind as some think. On the other hand, there are parts of Colombia where criticism of Chiquita Brands can bring a paramilitary squad calling.
Serious sanctions are acts of war, akin to besieging cities in the old days, and while they are construed as moderate they are extreme and lethal. Imagine Australia without exports and imports of critical products.
We should be clear about motives and actions on both sides. The world is full of countries (and even some Democrat states and cities of the US) which fall well short of a reasonable standard. Venezuela, even with a high oil price and no sanctions, would be among them. Those who play the right game like Oman, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia etc won’t be getting their colour revolutions any time soon.
The other thing to consider is how badly these regime changes are being pulled off, when not totally bungled. I mean, you just appoint a president from Washington? A CNN-confected people’s hero nobody likes? If your promising colour revolution fails (again!) you proceed to proxy war involving Brazil, Colombia and maybe Guyana? There are just too many agencies and political factions tugging in too many directions. Okay, it would be nice to shore up the petrodollar while controlling Iran and Venezuela’s output but the world which looked simple for about five minutes some time in the 90s is now a tangle. What part of multipolar don’t the regime changers get? (Yeah, I know…it’s the “multi”.)
40
Draptemania….
Your comment is so, so weird… It amounts to a defense of the corrupt and illegitimate Maduro regime.
I know people from Venezuela who left years ago because of these bastards.
Abandoned homes & businesses to escape and start again with nothing in Argentina & in Australia
And when finally the rst of the world recognises the roblem and takes action
You don’t like it.
Bah ! You are a fool mate
63
The big question, asked in the text above is :
“where is the United Nations”.
This is the culmination, the United Nations crowning glory, of seventy years of it’s being.
The performances in reducing or preventing conflict and human suffering have been appalling.
Just ask those in the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, Srebrenica and now South America what they think.
Government begins at home: the idea that anyone in the New York based United Nations sees their “work” there as anything but a well earned political reward is failing to recognise the problem.
Top down government doesn’t work.
Government must always be:
Of the People, By the People, For the People.
The promise that society made to me, post WW11, was of a better world. By and large I felt that promise being honoured up to about the end of the sixties when the avaricious dream spinners took over. The climax was made evident with the footage of Julie Australia prancing around in New York with her man in tow.
And now we have the two major political Partis here in Australia exhibiting absolutely no concern for reality, just getting themselves elected and living drunk on power.
Even if it means we become Veneztralia.
Serious Stuff. KK
201
You could also ask where the UN is in regard to South Africa, and in regard to treatment of minorities in China. They seem to be very selective in their concerns and ineffective in their eventual actions. Apart from career opportunities for ruling classes and retired polticians its hard to see the valued added by the UN’s relentless hand wringing.
140
The UN is like the Seinfeld episode where Kramer becomes a Karate champion by fighting against children only.
Choose your battles wisely and anyone can look good.
90
People asked where was the UN in Africa?
Well, the West basically uses africans literally as Big Pharma lab rats…..vans turn up in villages and people disappear…for good reason. They can do stuff in africa they cant do anywhere else.
Every once and a while you see “outbreaks” of things, usually a bio-trial gone wrong….or it was too successful.
Easy to be jaded about this stuff, but the more I read, the more its uncomfortable reading…
20
And China has plans to use them for cheap labour. Eventually I suppose we too will reach that point some time after our crash and burn. The cycle keeps going on.
30
Whenever the UN is introduced into a country pretty soon its children need treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
20
Nothing to do with vast swathes of the country still living in the stone age, bush meat, albino harversting, witch doctors, corruption and racism. Yep its Big Pharma, and lordy! the Chemtrails!
40
When will people learn that with guvuhmint, by nature inclined to kleptocrat behaviour, LESS is more. Guvuhmint to maintain non-fiat rule of law for all citizens, security of the realm, a safety net for those in need and let us manage ourselves, free to choose what is best for us, not big bro knows best and must micro-manage us and cream what we earn to set themselves apart, secure with life-time entitlements, living the UN / EU lifestyle of the bureaucracy, divorced from economic reality.
30
““where is the United Nations”?”
Hopefully well out of the bloody way
60
““where is the United Nations”?”
Watching you and making notes right now. 🙂
31
This could be your future Australia as you go to 100% renewables with all coal fired base load power gone.
90
Could be? It will happen in a canter as Morrison keeps pointing out about reaching the Paris target. Our two major parties are doing their best to destroy this once great nation.
80
Well Venezuela seems to have ridden the slippery slope to just about to the bottom.How could
this happen it was resource rich in fossil fuel -oil (hey Aus is resource rich in coal -another
fossil fuel) well markets can change from time to time and it did go down for oil.Now add in
a healthy dose of Maduro and his corruption and things began to crumble( hey Aus a heavy
reliance on coal markets and they can change too) but Aus has the advantage of a stable
democracy with leaders who sometimes don’t manage things that well for the interests
of its people(eg Rudd,Gillard ,Turnbull and now for a short time Morrison) Now it does take
time to damage a healthy rich economy like Venezuela and of course it’s absolutely necessary
power grid (hey Aus has an absolutely necessary power grid too-sarc) and bring it to to a
complete collapse.But all of this is different for Australia just look at some economic indicators
housing market up or down ?? Investment in new job making industries up down or just leaving
the country??? Full time employment figures up /down who really knows ??
Finally we have reached the point where it has been publicly admitted that the electricity grid
is under that much strain (the Australian newspaper yesterday) with the introduction and “transition” to intermittent energy-wind and solar that it has to be “adjusted “ with what sounds
like emergency procedures just to keep it going.This certainly was not the case for the grid
a decade ago!!! But hey this is Australia not Venezuela.
Cheers Mike Reed
120
Not a cheerful picture there Mike.
KK
31
The initial problem started with a drop in world oil prices, so to give a semblance of normal economic activity the regime borrowed heavily from China and Russia. They have been paying off their debt with oil, but ultimately ignorance, arrogance and corrupt practice leads to a nasty end.
Beijing and Moscow have sent in the cavalry to salvage the situation until they get back their investment. By comparison Washington will wait for the regime to collapse.
‘The Trump administration is considering pumping U.S. dollars into Venezuela through banks, smartphones and apps if the regime of Nicolas Maduro fails, President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser said.’
Bloomberg
30
Although its an easy takeover target for some more powerful country and bag a decent chunk of its fossil fuel reserves.
This is why NATO has been mysteriaously extended to Brazil and why the Russians and Amerricans a duking it out over Venezuelas resources…..
30
Grahams link to the Will Happer interview at #2 is worth the look. He’s relaxed, moderate and engaging and obviously has the science sorted.
Maybe there is hope yet.
61
I know Will and he is great. Perfect to fly this plane if we can just get it off the ground.
70
Isn’t Venezuela a utopian paradise praised as a model society by labor and the Greens ?
60
So not a mention of the punitive sanctions imposed by the USA, some of which target medical products needed there. Not a sausage about how Venezuelien funds are locked up in American banks, or the threat of secondary sanctions on anyone trying to purchase their oil. Also no mention of how the country under its previous president raised education levels and reduced poverty. When you ask, why isn’t this reported, it is, just not in the Murdoch media. Not a skerrick about the use of aid as a political tool, and condemned as such by the UN
here is an example of other reporting
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/20/everyone-has-fallen-lies-about-venezuela
The other bias is “50 countries support and recognise Guaidó as the legitimate leader” (despite his not standing in any election), but failing to mention the rest of the world (China, Russia, India, most of Africa, Most of Europe) who support Maduro.
Lastly if you look at the South American news outlet TeleSUR you will see that the grid problems are part of the playbook – ‘Regime change for Dummies’
Better to think of this as the end of the Monroe doctrine, as other powers move into the region, which has long been the USA’s defacto colonial empire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change_in_Latin_America
210
Strange…
“China, India, most of Africa, Most of Europe” have not sent their military to Venezuela.
Yet.
Peter, guess which country has?
80
Russia – which could not have happened before Trump got into power. The USA, a weary titan, is losing its grip on South America. And its about time, they have been held back for far too long
Bye Bye Pax America
39
America may not be perfect, but compared to other places, just be glad they exist….
20
Is this a case of my tyrant is better than your tyrant?
25
Tut tut, Peter Fitzroy,
that’s pax Americana.
Just as an aside, the left always seems to be tarring us as believers in con$piracy theories, the typical ad hom of the left.
It seems you have a few yourself.
I guess your response is that your belief is a real one, and not the con$pir***s you tar us with.
Tony.
90
I’m not sure where you got that from TonyfromOz. We all have our biases, after all. But to paint you with that that brush is not my doing., bit of reverse projection on your part I would say. I’m saying that the attempted regime change, orchestrated in the USA, has not succeeded, and if you widen your reading list you might see why. But as usual for this blog, you immediately leap into attacking the messenger. An alternative might have been to try and refute the damage the sanctions are having, or that the freezing of assets is a not a bad thing.
28
Regime change via an armed invasion is now uncool !
Even though 10’s millions of Venezualans are praying
That Trump do it
Por Favor El Presidente Trump.
So it is happening the slow more protracted way
Via financial restrictions and trade bans..
Exactly what finally drove the Apartheid regime in South Africa in the dust !
51
What right does the US have to sanction Venezuela? Particularly when those sanctions hit the poor disproportionately. This is just a case of foreign interference in a soverign country. It has been condemned by the UN.
Socialism is not Apartheid, and as stated, the Venezuelan version has lifted millions out of poverty.
26
Chavez started this Venezuelan experiment decades ago..
Madura is piss poor brainless idiot.
Under his guidance the Venezuelan experiment has destroyed the economy and forced millions to flee as . refugees.
That is massive poverty you do not see even when it is so bloody obvious.
That you seek to defend such crap is an indication of who & what you Fitz
70
Fitz, you’d be one of the first on their list of people who need to sing their tune to get your meds.
Why don’t you go over there and see for yourself how socialism creates then treats poverty? Take your meds with you, would be my recommendation.
50
“the Venezuelan version has lifted millions out of poverty”
roflmao.
Your “virtual” imaginary world really is a weird place if you think Venezuela has helped people OUT of poverty.
You have seriously got things bas-ackwards, just like you always have.
The WHOLE COUNTRY is now in poverty, FFS !!!
50
So you are saying that Trump is doing a good thing.
WOW.
That must hurt you so much to admit such a thing.
“the Venezuelan version has lifted millions out of poverty.”
ROFLMAO.. which is why nearly everybody now lives in poverty. !
Off you trot to your favourite third world country, and your favourite dictator.
I’m sure they can find a use for a person like you, where nobody else can.
Maybe cleaning up the street litter?
40
Yeah not bustin his chops to get over there and live the dream now is the hypocrite.
20
Well, Fitz, I’d like to ask you a few pertinent questions.
When will you be permanently moving to one of your Socialist paradises?
What Nation On Earth will take up the responsibilities, Military, Financial, Scientific, and Humanitarian, that the USA now upholds? When, Where, How, and with What? You might take issue with them, but every aspect mentioned abhors a vacuum. Tell me the answer to each.
The USA has financed the Liberty of every nation of Europe and beyond for nearly 75 years. Shipping, National Sovereignty, etc. Did Socialism do that?
I’m not saying the USA has any a priori hold on sainthood, but please provide me and the audience with examples of any nation on earth that had nuclear weapons and could have held the world hostage, but didn’t? Let’s ignore the USSR and Cuba incident, for the moment. I’m sure they had World Liberty on their minds in some fashion or other. But do give an example.
As to Regime Change, and how that’s a bad thing, please tell us all how Russia invading Ukraine was a good thing? Or China threatening Japan with their new islands? [snip] You do pick your easy targets for ease of smear. Let’s take on the hard ones, shall we?
Fitz, you are drowning in your own ideology. Not sure what it pretends to be, but a crying baby in a diaper comes to mind.
10
Here is another example.
‘Both Venezuela and Iran are under very punitive US sanctions. The US government – led by national security adviser John Bolton – has been trying to urge all countries to cut oil purchases from both Iran and Venezuela. The pressure has had an impact.’
Asia Times
60
this is a policy that would lead Australia’s economy off a cliff – and the following clears up some stuff from jo’s previous thread – so guess this is not o/t:
5 Apr: Daily Mail: The costly reality of Labor’s electric car policy: How you could end up paying BILLIONS so high-income earners can get cheap Teslas – but Bill Shorten doesn’t even know how long they take to charge
•Opposition leader pitched the electric car policy as dealing with climate change
•Mr Shorten’s policy will set target of 50 per cent new cars bought being electric
•International flag-bearer for electric – Norway – offers thousands in incentives
Perks for driving electric cars in Norway include use of bus lanes and less tax
•Twenty of the 24 electric car models sold in Australia cost more than $60,000
•Mr Shorten falsely claimed electric cars can take just eight minutes to charge
By Ben Hill
This week, Mr Shorten made the extraordinary claim while peaking to Kyle and Jackie O on KIIS FM that electric cars can be charged in eight minutes.
Mr Shorten said it could take ‘eight to ten minutes’ to charge an electric car, depending on how flat the battery was.
While in fact some can take 14 hours to recharge, and even fast charging stations take about 30 minutes to fill a fully depleted electric car battery to 80 per cent…
The cheapest electric vehicle available in Australia is the Renault Zoe costing just under $50,000…
Car Advice managing editor Trent Nikolic said Mr Shorten’s target was ‘not possible’.
‘If a whole suburb was to go out and buy electric cars tomorrow… the whole suburb would go into blackout every night when people put them on charge,’ he told 2GB…
GOVERNMENT SLAMS LABOR’S PROPOSAL
However, the Liberal Party is eyeing a similar target for electrical vehicles.
Labor senator Kristina Keneally asked senior bureaucrat Kristin Tilley if the government’s climate change policy included a strategy that ‘sees 25 to 50 per cent of new car sales in 2030 as electric vehicles’.
Ms Tilley said that was ‘correct’, but that a plan for reaching the target had not been devised.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6880237/The-reality-Bill-Shortens-electric-car-policy-youll-pay-BILLIONS-subsidised-Teslas.html
above claims Labor offering $100 million towards charging station infrasturcture, and Plibersek quotes the same figure to Alan Jones/2GB, but Shorten has definitely been offering $200 million on Bolt/Sky News last nite and earlier:
2 Apr: WhichCar: Industry pours cold water on Labor’s 2030 EV policy
By Alex Rae
ALP leader, Bill Shorten, has confirmed there will be $200 million of funding for infrastructure, installing much-needed charging stations around Australia, but Queensland’s new superhighway – littered with 18 superchargers for the state’s 700 EV owners – was installed at a cost of around $200,000 a pop. Spread over the expanse of Australia’s huge road network, that $200 million isn’t going to go too far, particularly when the first round of chargers are likely to be slotted into the Government’s own backyard to support its 2025 proposal…
https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/industry-pours-cold-water-on-labors-2030-ev-policy
AUDIO: 14min49sec: 5 Apr: 2GB: Alan Jones: Tanya Plibersek contradicts Bill Shorten’s electric car claim
The Deputy Labor leader admits Bill Shorten has details about electric car charging wrong but says the election campaign is “not a memory test”.
For months now, Mr Shorten has ignored interview requests from The Alan Jones Show.
Instead, he went on an FM radio station to spruik his policy to make 50 per cent of all new cars electric by 2030, and ended up making up lies.
“How long does it take to charge it up?” asked the host.
“It can take eight to 10 minutes depending on your charge,” said Mr Shorten
Motoring expert Trent Nikolic has trialled and tested dozens of electric cars and says the claims are complete nonsense.
“If you spend two and a half to three thousand dollars and you get your wall box set up at home… the car will tend to charge between about eight and nine hours overnight.” (AUDIO)
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek tells Alan Jones Mr Shorten can’t be expected to remember every statistic.
“It’s not a memory test this thing, it’s about making sure we’ve got the right policies.
“One of the reasons that we’re committing $100 million to fast charging stations is because we know that increasingly around the world that electric vehicles are becoming more popular and more common.
“So, a fast charging station you’d spend about 20 or 30 minutes charging your car.”
https://www.2gb.com/tanya-plibersek-contradicts-bill-shortens-electric-car-claim/
61
Tanya Plibersek to her leader’s rescue? Alas it seems that nobody’s briefed her on the permanent battery capacity depletion which fast charging induces.
Why can’t we simply obtain the appropriate human rights exemptions and take our politicians out and have them shot?
90
I have an aversion to cheer squads (except the one glimpsed around Kogarah in red and white) which is why I can’t join in the enthusiasm for regime change in Iran and Venezuela. The rantings of Haley, Bolton, Giuliani and McCain have gone beyond juvenile and convinced me that, even if regime change is desirable (it probably is), it can’t be put in the hands of such people. And then there’s Hillary, who likes a starve-out but prefers to cut straight to the massacre when possible. If those guys are on the team, I’m off.
Whatever corruption and mismanagement have gone on in these places (and “friendly” basket cases not marked for regime change), I don’t want it to distract me from the outrages proposed by Shorten above.
The war to worry about, to fight and win, is the War on Coal and the globalists behind it. That’s Australia’s war, it’s started already, and we punters are losing it.
It’s not just that a great many problems in cities could be solved by more and better electrified public transport, leaving roads freer. Even the white elephant of electric cars, which will not take pressure off roads, will be massively dependent on the naughty fossil fuel power it is meant somehow to replace.
As I’ve said before, I don’t think anyone can be this thick. Big Green was never a serious proposition, every one of its fetish technologies is designed to fail from the get-go. Okay, maybe Shorten is thick enough, but I doubt even that. The GeeUp volunteers who pop in to sites like this one? Maybe they believe. Hard to tell. You’d have to be pretty thick to reside in coal and mineral rich Oz and not notice how all the naughties become goodies as soon as they take a boat trip to somewhere else. Do the globalists have to draw them a picture?
No. The regime change needed is a change of energy management right here. It involves gratitude for the great resources we have, along with thrift and conservation in their use. There is no waste like green waste, and we need to hit back now. That’s my war.
I’m happy to be a nagging Cato here and repeat as often as needed: Green Blob must be destroyed.
40
Australia could be like Venezuela if our coal and iron ore mining stop.
Our electricity costs and corporate tax are amongst the highest in the world.
That is the real reason the few manufacturers left, like Kimberley Clarke are leaving.
Meanwhile they decide to hold a $500 million 3 year royal commission into the disabled.
What a flippin joke.
The NDIS is the biggest wasteful wank in political history and I will never forgive Julia Gillard for it.
I saw Scott Morrison tearing up this morning because of his disabled brother in law – more virtue signalling.
Noone is prepared to call out the waste for fear of being accused of discrimination.
Meanwhile the disability industry continues to bloat and beg for more money on the ABC.
90
Labor should be reminded that in their Budget for financial year 2013/14 they made no provision to pay for a number of items budgeted by them, the unfunded items included NDIS and Gonski education grants to public schools via state governments. The Abbott led LibNat Coalition commissioned an independent audit of the Labor Budget and the unfunded items were discovered, and therefore the Labor budget deficit estimate had to be increased when the provision to pay was arranged by Treasurer Hockey. The gross debt (net debt is not the amount owed) increased. Also Labor had not increased their self imposed debt ceiling of $300 billion but continued borrowing past that level.
The Abbott Government arranged to borrow more money, firstly to pay for Labor’s budget unfunded items and secondly to have a reserve in hand to cover other shortfalls in funding. The gross debt was over $400 billion attributable to Labor plus $100 billion Abbott Government, total gross debt $500 billion.
It has been commented that the Abbott Government should have cancelled NDIS and Gonski rather than borrow more money to fund them. Two points: Labor negotiated with Labor and Liberal State Governments before budgeting those items. The Abbott Opposition agreed to support those items if they were elected to government in 2013. Second point is that during the election campaign before the September 2013 Federal Election the Opposition said that they would support the Labor Budget subject to verification of the accounting as they had to rely on the budget papers tabled by the Labor Government and had no access to Treasury or Finance officers and records in opposition. An independent auditors were commissioned and they reported the unfunded items, the resulting under estimated budget deficit and gross debt position also.
And from that time on the hostile Senate with Labor Greens and Others blocked Labor Budget repair bills time and time again. The 2014/15 Budget repair items rejected. It was not until Treasurer Morrison removed the forever blocked repair items and replaced them with new repair measures and warned Labor against blocking them that the Government was able to move forward resulting now in the first budget surplus since 2007/08. It is obvious that Labor created a budget minefield, creative accounting, to play politics with based on the 2010 Federal Election almost defeat of Gillard Labor and the numbers indicating a victory for the Opposition in September 2013.
So another example of supposed to be representatives of the people (Labor) deliberately undermining our prosperity.
70
Regarding the Gonski education grants for education, Labor claims that the Abbott Government had cut funding for education ignoring the election campaign commitment made by the Abbott Opposition before the September 2013 Federal Election.
That was to support Labor’s Gonski for financial year 2013/14 and for the following forward estimate years. After that no guarantee because there would be negotiations with State Governments to return education to a “back to basics” focus. I understand that has not yet commenced because many or most, emphasis on younger teachers, are not capable of teaching those subjects and a retraining programme is underway and changes being made for training of new teachers. Meanwhile the standard of education has fallen at an alarming rate as compared to many other countries.
It is worth noting that PM Blair of UK Labour was also, copied by PM Gillard here, the great educator self image creator as education standards declined there. And of course Ms Gillard is now a global education participant via Clinton Foundation and the UN.
60
“”Australia could be like Venezuela if our coal and iron ore mining stop.””Probably replace “could” with “will”would be a more accurate forecast?
40
Hnag on a bit – my 45yo brother in law is heavily mentally disabled, and yes, some of the money is used for trips to concets and stuff, but within the realms of having a normal life for someone who is heavily depenedent on his 70 year old parents.
Just recently, it seems some private sector slash and burn experts have been appointed, such that when my inlaws queried by phone the cuts to his ( brother in laws ) NDIS 20% reduction in money allocation, they were basically threated with losing even more money if they persisted questioning the cuts.
Words dont come near to what I think about such people.
It seems the old mantra of “How we treat our most vulnerable is how the govt would treat everyone – if it could get away with it” – persists.
30
Gillard announced the NDIS in 2012
As costing $4 billion
To be funded by a rise in the Medicare levy of 0.5%
Fair enough.
Except it’s heading North of $20 billion 7 years later
And is almost completely dependent on
taxes.
WTF ?
Somebody stuffed up Big Time
Probably Gillard.
But the question must be asked can the NDIS be afforded or not ?
It is one of the structural deficit items I mentioned the other day .
51
The disability pension is already very generous by world standards.
The NDIS is now costings $22 billion per year.
And it’s the disability provider companies who are profiting and telling us all these services are vitally necessary.
50
Yes George4, I too shall not be forgetting the author of the NDIS and completely endorse your remarks on the stoat Julia Gillard.
40
Of but Ararat wind farms have been stopped from early this morning despite a nice breeze blowing, ??
30
Too much wind Yonnie !
Same here in SA
31
Funny how you could use some of the power geenrated as a magnetic brake ( eddy currents ) to stop overspeed….the faster it goes, the more braking…. that way even in a heavy wind, the bird shredders could keep shredding….
21
Yeah it’s picked up a bit as the day goes on, guess how many coal plants stop on a windy day? 🙂
50
I would guess none. I expect gas and hydro would get wound down though.
10
And it’s become a dust storm here in SA
Not a great day to do the washing, even though it’s 29 degrees.
Nor a great day for being outside with the dust in the eyes & mouth.
Meanwhile on the roofs the panels are covered with dust
and toooo hot !
So not working …
So bugger all sunny or windy electrons today !
31
Energy Minister Angus Taylor is on Ray Hadley show (2GB) to go on the attack over Labor’s EV policy.
phone connection is absolutely dreadful; can barely understand a word he is saying. Hadley is ignoring the technical problem and ploughing along with the interview.
I’m beginning to think Labor jumped on the EV policy on a whim, to get Green votes.
30 Jan: TheDriveN: Giles Parkinson: Coalition, Labor, stymie Senate proposals to boost EV uptake in Australia
The Senate inquiry into electric vehicles has stopped short of making specific targets and policy incentives for EVs in Australia – despite the obvious environment and economic benefits – after the two major parties refused to come on board.
Neither Labor nor the existing Coalition government would support support specific targets, leaving the inquiry headed by the independent Senator Tim Storer to effectively call for a national plan, without saying what that should be…
Storer – who had delayed the release of the report by nearly two months in a bid to bring the major parties over the line (LINK) – voiced his frustration in his chairman’s report. He wanted a target of 25 per cent EV sales by 2025, compare to a measly 0.2 per cent in 2017…
“Measures like setting national EV purchasing targets will come at no cost to the Australian Government. While others, like investing in public charging infrastructure, can be offset by sensible policy reforms in related areas.
But neither Labor nor the Coalition would buy in, agreeing only to the proposition that a target should be considered, along with possibility of emissions standards for vehicles and a plan for infrastructure.
The Greens said it was not good enough.
“The weak recommendations of this report demonstrate just how feeble Labor and Liberal are when it comes to electric vehicle policy,” transport spokesperson Janet Rice said in a statement…
Storer says Australia should target a 25 per cent share of light vehicle sales to EVs by 2025, and 30 per cent of light commercial vehicle sales (utes and vans), and 20 per cent of metro bus sales by the same date…
The major parties rejected these ideas. This is not surprising from the Coalition, whose tentative moves into the area of EVs have been met by cries of a carbon tax on wheels by the Murdoch media and other idiots.
But the failure of Labor to come on board is disappointing, particularly with a poll from The Australian Institute showing overwhelming public support for policies and targets for EVs.
https://thedriven.io/2019/01/30/coaliton-labor-stymie-senate-proposals-to-boost-ev-uptake-in-australia/
40
Ray Hadley finally got around to asking Angus Taylor about rumours Matt Canavan has threatened to quit if Federal Govt doesn’t approve Adani:
5 Apr: Star1019: BREAKING | Matt Canavan Threatens To Quit Over Adani Approvals
By Michelle Price
Minister for Northern Australia, Matt Canavan, is threatening to quit Cabinet over Adani approvals.
Sky News is reporting that he is fed up with delays in approvals for the Carmichael coal mine and is blaming Environment Minister Melissa Price.
Ms Price is yet to sign off on a groundwater management plan despite it being approved by her own department.
Mr Canavan is reportedly part of a group of Queensland MPs who have held an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister to highlight their concerns.
Sky News is reporting that Members are reportedly worried that any delay on the mining project will harm their chances of being re-elected.
https://www.star1019.com.au/news/local-news/118321-breaking-matt-canavan-threatens-to-quit-over-adani-approvals
Angus Taylor claimed he wasn’t at the meeting with Qld MPs. knows nothing. listeners are flooding 2GB with comments saying basically, Taylor is waffling on like the rest of the Coalition, and they are totally fed up.
40
The Coalition Government when led (is that the right word?) by PM Turnbull made a $300 million provision for promotion of EV, Macquarie Bank Leasing, I understand, received $100 million to promote EV to fleet operators.
The secret, not very well publicised emissions abatement levy or whatever the wording is (carbon tax) targeting coal fired power stations is flexible and could be levied on liquid fossil fuels and others. Will the EV transition by order of government target ICEV soon, added to fuel tax?
20
One conclusion from this comment : Senator Tim Storer is a bloody dope !
He was not elected in the first place
And has no place legitimate place there.
11
None of them is legitimate. And shooting’s too good for them. I’m thinking rustication to Macquarie Island to live in their own exclusive community and forage for tucker…
30
I’m beginning to think Labor jumped on the EV policy on a whim, to get Green votes.
If they are they are doubly stupid.
It is like back when Gillard scraped into government and then had to negotiate with The Greens to form government.
No they did NOT. The entire Gillard/Green ‘negotiations’ could have been boiled down to one line:- ‘Do whatever I say or go talk to Mister Abbott.’
Same deal here in 2019 with only the names changed. Green voters would rather hunt their own meat and cook it on a coal fired stove than give preference votes to anyone politically to the right of Stalin. The Liberals could promise free kale for every child and still get preferenced last and Billy, if he had half a wit, should already know that.
All sides of politics need to start accepting that ‘Green Votes’ belong to THE GREENS and if ‘Green Policy’ was actually what the voters wanted to see then The Greens would be pulling more than 10% of the primary.
Green ideas should be slapped hard in the face with a wheat bag filled with pragmatism and then if the MSM complain about it, simply defund the ABC as punishment.
30
Think think think think. We’ve seen countries like Argentina, Venezuela and many others decline from their prosperous heights to their depths of depression. The same will happen to others who keep ignoring the signs. We are one of them. The only way to stop it is to stop voting for the two major parties. I won’r even attempt to hold my breath on that one.
40
What we need is an election in which nobody votes (along the lines of the man who wrote to Spectator Australia two weeks back).
More than likely incarceration awaits anybody publicly advocating a boycott so it’s an extreme outlier possibility but I can dream.
11
Now, the Science, ie – our demonstrating grandchildren, conclusively proved that oil, coal and nuclear are so yesterday.
The fuel of tomorrow is mined today in South America and Venezuela happened to conveniently lie halfway to mass customer:
https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiw3-i40rfhAhXBUn0KHd1FAgkQFjAAegQIBBAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld-europe-45270444&usg=AOvVaw2_KBQmocNNSaqULKEBUitM
10
Thanks Vlad,
A vwry expensive fuel.
Cheers,
Dave B
20
Now you know why you should own Gold & Silver.
20
Off Topic : Another one of Weatheral’s great ideas
for boosting renewable energy in SA
has finally fallen over !
Hurray !
The project could not get finance.
Maybe some banks are finally realising that renewables
are unreliables
And won’t fly,
Or make money !
51
Bill a sign that the unreliable industry investors are getting nervous is their financial support for the Labor Green & Others, GetUp campaigning for, claiming to be independent candidates targeting real Liberal and National MPs in their electorates.
Merchant bankers and at least one solar business owner I have read. And of course Turnbull & Son.
30
are we suppose to guess what you are talking about?
10
Off Topic : Another one of Weatheral’s great ideas
for boosting renewable energy in SA
has finally fallen over !
Hurray !
The project could not get finance.
Maybe some banks are finally realising that renewables
are unreliables
And won’t fly,
Or make money !
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-05/solar-thermal-plant-will-not-go-ahead-in-port-augusta/10973948
31
not recommended listening!
AUDIO: 12min24sec: 5 Apr: 2GB: Ray Hadley: Energy Minister refuses to commit to coal before election
A NSW coal-fired power station is among a dozen projects considered to be underwritten by the federal government, in order to maintain a strong power supply.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor tells Ray Hadley they are committed to the projects they have shortlisted but has not been able to promise a pledge for coal baseload power before the election.
“We’re gonna do it.. but I tell you what I’m not going to hand over money for nothing… without actually doing the work on it.
“I’m not going to stuff things up by announcing something before it’s ready.”
Ray Hadley warns against waiting until after the election to commit to specific projects relating to baseload power.
“I tell you where you’ll be, you’ll be in opposition as sure as night follows day.
“Unless you come up with a solution to baseload power well before the election… there will be about 15 of your colleagues that will be at the Centrelink queue looking for a job.”
https://www.2gb.com/energy-minister-refuses-to-commit-to-coal-before-election/
30
The political debates often mislead people about responsibilities of Federal and State governments, electricity supply is a State responsibility but the Federal Government has some involvement, an example Snow Mountains Hydro partnership until the decision was made for the Federal Government to buy the Vic and NSW shares before construction of so called Snowy 2.
AEMO is a cooperative.
Therefore the Federal Minister cannot budget to underwrite new coal fired power stations without State Government agreement and planning approval.
20
Prime Minister Morrison was criticised not long ago for appearing to back away from Federal support for coal fired power stations in Qld. But what the PM said was that there is no point discussing the matter while the Queensland Government was unwilling to consider planning approval.
30
The curse of galloping inflation,
Can destroy and bring down a nation,
Best to trade in coins minted,
And dump the notes printed,
To buy food in a dire situation.a
40
O/Topic – Assange is likely to get kicked out of the Columbian Embassy soon:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-05/julian-assange-to-be-expelled-from-ecuador-embassy-wikileaks/10974482
One wonders what will happen next …
40
Equadorain embassy ?
11
Maybe Bulldust thinks he is going to run to the Columbian embassy and then get booted again. It makes sense, check this map
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Embassy+of+Ecuador,+Hans+Crescent,+London,+UK/Embassy+of+Colombia,+3+Hans+Cres,+Knightsbridge,+London+SW1X+0LN,+UK/@51.4990983,-0.1635235,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x4876053ed57c44f1:0x4e64e9ae1448cd14!2m2!1d-0.1612775!2d51.4990055!1m5!1m1!1s0x4876053ed53b56c1:0x24aabefad3d7747b!2m2!1d-0.161478!2d51.4991257!3e3
11
No chance for a bolt hole there, unless he gives up his cat.
20
Ecuadorian Columbian … potato potatoe
10
Thanks to your link,,I have just forward this to Crowd Source the Truth
Hi Jason,
The beauty of the comments sections in the moderated blogs we follow.
A link yesterday,
Julian Assange- WikiLeaks founder- reportedly set to be expelled from Ecuadorian embassy in London
I must admit initially , I brought some of the traitor spin, until a few this did not start to add up. I have no doubt that is the swamp dwell had got hold of him they would have.
There have been comment on crowdsource the truth about him being treated more as a hero than a villain. He was gathering information in the public domain.
You may consider revitalizing that debate in a session
A pardon by Donald Trump, is well in order
Regards,
Graham
20
The Venezuelans may lack electricity, food, running water and sanitation. However from the photo of the street, for what is now another socialist third world sh*thole (Donald’s phrase) and really another military dictatorship pretending to be a democracy there is no end of really high quality reusable and free toilet paper.
50
It’s timely when Alexandria Occasional-Cortex suggest that everybody be paid whether they work or not, all the government has to do is print more money. Between AOC and Maduro, the Democrats and Bernia Sanders supporters might be in the middle of a serious rethink. Just keep printing that money.
71
Hahahaha… You’re funny!
40
I fully support that policy as long as I get as much new money as I want and a 6 month head start.
50
Meanwhile in Australia Shorten has promised that many cancer treatments will be free, when as Morrison added, most of what he is proposing already are. It reminds me of when Gough Whitlam made tertiary education free when getting a government scholarship was already essential, so it cost him nothing.
However it opened the floodgates to quadruple university enrolments and expand Science into pseudo sciences and fill the country with science free ecologists who believe mankind is the entire problem and nothing is natural. Like Tim Flannery, whose first degree was in English and presumed to give informed views on the technology of Hot rock power generation ($93Million loss) and Nuclear power.
You can get a PhD in just about anything today. Instead of graduating a dozen at a time at top universities, the best of the best, what used to be technical colleges are now graduating 200 at a time. This cannot be good.
90
Australian tertiary education is now simply another highly priced commodity with light touch quality control and your 200 at a time is beancounter ecstasy irrespective of the wheat to chaff ratio being turned out.
We’ll be extinct within fifty years TdeF as will our views on The Good; lord knows we’re already a weird cult beyond the pale of the ordinary concerns of the population so there’ll be no lamentation.
61
This subject is too painful for me in all senses !
I had to clench my teeth hard to say nothing while my 9-year old grandson was explaining that two sexes are no longer necessary for having babies. I am scared to breach the subject of environment or aboriginal self-determination.
He attends very good private school; teachers are mostly young and extremely gentle.
50
See what yr grandson is receiving via UN Core Curriculum social agenda education. Targeting the reasoning brain by way of an emotional learning make-over, to produce students as warriors for social justice, See essays @ Invisible Serfs Collar. Even wrote an essay on it me-self.No place for the reasoning adult in the New World Order.
invisibleserfscollar.com/fracturing-the-personal-and-social-failsafes-and-omitting-the-most-pertinent-parts-of-the-plans/
40
SOGI is the current orthodoxy. Legislation in support of it is on foot.
The difficulty about newborns is that since they cannot talk they’re unable to say where they are oriented in the SOGI realm.
How all this damage can be undone will be just another on the list of future big challenges for what is left of our society.
00
TAFE in NSW went into decline during the Carr Labor Government years, my son spent several years to obtain three qualifications and was extremely frustrated when told he would be attending a different TAFE College many times. And most not convenient to home or workplaces.
Today he is a builder and has an apprentice from South America who was granted a study visa based on doing an apprenticeship, his choices were building trade or diesel mechanic. Once qualified the apprentice can apply to become a permanent resident. The building and construction industry has a major problem, many projects and not enough trades people, and semi-qualified jobs are being done by migrants and temporary work visa foreigners.
I remember when the Howard Government threatened the State Governments to deal with the TAFE decline issues, the said improve or we will open Federal TAFE colleges.
21
Sorry Dennis, that was meant to be a green.
10
And TAFE was once a world class system that skilled Australia.
Unfortunately governments found that they could scam more votes by elevating everyone to university level and now we are paying for it.
KK
30
5 Apr: Bloomberg: Venezuela Blackouts Cut Oil Output by Half During March
By Fabiola Zerpa; With assistance by Lucia Kassai
Rolling blackouts across much of the country that started on March 7 paralyzed most of the country’s oil wells and rigs, which have slowly come back online. Oil output averaged less than 600,000 barrels a day during the blackouts, the people said, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. For the full month, daily production was 890,000 barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey of officials, analysts and ship-tracking data…
Near the Orinoco basin in the East, where four out of every five barrels is pumped, heavy tar-like oil has begun to clog pipelines and tanks after the heating system lost power, according to Wills Rangel, a former PDVSA board director and president of the United Workers Federation of Oil, Gas and Related Derivatives of Venezuela. Cleaning or removing the pipes could take months, he said.
“Damage caused by the blackouts at the Orinoco Belt oil fields is substantial,” Rangel said in an interview…
The Orinoco Belt area hasn’t recovered fully from the electricity blow and is currently producing about 300,000 barrels a day, he said…
While pumping oil from fields in the Orinoco Belt requires some electricity, the bigger power demand comes from the upgraders — facilities that convert the extra-heavy oil to more commercial blends — located some 300 kilometers away in the north near the coast. The country’s four upgraders are still working to restart.
“If PDVSA restores power at full to all its four upgraders, jointly owned by Chevron, Total, Equinor and Rosneft, it can have an impact on the national grid,” Rangel said…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-04/venezuela-blackouts-said-to-cut-oil-output-by-half-during-march
10
3 Apr: World Nuclear News: Nuclear energy is a key part of China’s Belt and Road policy
China wants to promote nuclear energy cooperation in the ‘Belt and Road’, and is focusing on new technology deployment and completing its radioactive waste management strategy, a conference in Beijing heard. The Belt and Road Initiative is a development strategy adopted by the Chinese government involving infrastructure development and investments in 152 countries and international organisations.
Opening the 2019 Spring International Summit at China’s Nuclear Energy Sustainability Forum on 1 April, the chairman of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), Yu Jianfeng, said human society is entering a new era of clean energy development. In the last three years, he said, China has shown the fastest growth rate of clean energy, including hydro, wind, solar and nuclear power.
The country accounts for about one-fifth of nuclear capacity under construction globally – 10.8 GWe of the 56.3 GWe total – while its construction performance means eight of the last 10 new reactors to start up were in China. However, these start-ups are the result of construction approvals granted five or six years ago whereas approvals for new projects have been withheld for the last three years. This hiatus is expected to end soon now that the first EPR and AP1000 units are in operation at Taishan and Yangjiang, respectively. In parallel, construction of the first indigenous Haulong One units, Fuqing 5 and 6, is progressing with installation of large components, such as the steam turbine, at an advanced stage.
The conference aimed to promote international cooperation on nuclear energy in the ‘Belt and Road’ and accordingly Yu highlighted the Chinese export to Pakistan of two ACP-1000 pressurised water reactors to the Karachi nuclear power plant. The first of these, Karachi 2, began construction in August 2015 and is nearing completion. It will be put into operation soon, he said. Pakistan started up new Chinese-supplied CNP-300 units in 2016 and 2017, doubling its nuclear power production to 6.2% of generation. When in operation the new Karachi units would take that to at least 16%.
In China, Yu looked forward to the start-up of the high temperature gas-cooled reactor at Shidao Bay (Shandong Shidaowan). The pilot pebble-bed design unit started construction at the end of 2012 and is now in the “final stage of installation and commissioning” to be completed in the first half of 2020, said Yu…
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Nuclear-energy-is-a-key-part-of-China%E2%80%99s-Belt-and-R
10
28 Mar: Press&JournalUK: Green Party’s oil and gas policy would destroy lives, Gillian Martin MSP claims
by Tom Peterkin
Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin has claimed that Green Party plans to run down the North Sea oil and gas would “destroy” lives in the north-east.
Ms Martin claimed the oil downturn had left North Sea workers suicidal as she spoke of the importance of the industry to her constituents.
The SNP MSP defended the industry at Holyrood, arguing that the region relied “hugely” on the sector.
Her defence came as parliament voted on a Green motion that a policy of maximum extraction of oil and gas was “incompatible” with addressing the “climate emergency”.
MSPs rejected the motion after a fiery debate that saw north and north-east politicians stand up for the oil and gas industry.
Ms Martin said: “I don’t think it is hyperbole to say that if you turn of the taps of the oil and gas industry, you potentially destroy the north-east economy and many jobs with it…
Orkney MSP Liam McArthur argued the Greens’ “environmental machismo” was “desperate and counter-productive”.
Green MSP Mark Ruskell, who tabled the motion, said: “The SNP, Tories, Labour and Lib Dems are more concerned about propping up the unsustainable fossil fuel industry than taking the bold, urgent action that is required.”
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/business/north-of-scotland/1709886/green-partys-oil-and-gas-policy-would-destroy-lives-gillian-martin-msp-claims/
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4 Apr: ClimateChangeNews: Carmakers on course for $2-12bn fines for missing EU CO2 targets: Moody’s
The ratings agency warns of possible credit downgrades, while the UK’s auto lobby says ‘anti-diesel’ agenda has made targets harder to reach
By Natalie Sauer
Carmakers are on course to be hit with EU fines of between €2.4-11.2 billion euros ($2.7-12.6bn) for failing to meet the bloc’s emissions targets in just two years time, ratings agency Moody’s said on Thursday…
Without drastic action half of the world’s largest automakers will miss Europe’s 2021 standards for CO2 emissions. The penalties for failure could lead to credit downgrades, the ratings agency warned.
By 2021, manufacturers’ average car will need to emit a maximum of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre, versus 118.5g in 2017. Manufacturers have the choice of how to achieve this, with some focusing on hybrids while others are betting heavily on fully-electric vehicles…
For most automakers, more than half of their new cars breach the 2021 standards. This includes Renault-Nissan, Volvo, Fiat Chrysler, Hyundai, BMW, Daimler AG, Ford, Volkswagen, Honda and Jaguar…
Diesel cars release less carbon dioxide than petrol vehicles. But Europeans have deserted the fuel following the revelations in 2015 that Volkswagen and other automakers had tampered with its engines to meet emission standards during laboratory testing. Between 2017 and 2018, sales of diesel-powered cars fell from 44% of new registered cars in Europe to 36%, down a peak of 56% in 2011…
A spokesperson for the UK car lobby, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the “industry is committed to a low carbon future but the anti-diesel agenda and slower than hoped take-up of electric vehicles is now jeopardising industry efforts to meet the most challenging CO2 targets in the world for 2021”…
“We need policies that encourage rather than confuse, which means a consistent approach to incentives and tax, and greater investment in charging infrastructure. This will be critical to meeting targets and avoiding crippling fines, which will only hinder industry’s ability to invest in future technologies,” said the spokesperson.
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/04/04/carmakers-face-2-12bn-fines-missing-eu-co2-targets-moodys/
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Europe is not abandoning diesels because of the Volkswagon scandal. Only an idiot would come up with that. Diesels pollute far more nitrogen oxides than regular ICE engines. Europe was fine with that due to diesels superior fuel economy but that has come back to bite them as real pollution from diesels is making the air quality worse. This not Volkswagon cheating is why they are being banned all over Europe. A few minutes research will confirm it.
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behind paywall:
4 Apr: UK Times: SSE fined for failure over smart meters
by Alex Ralph
One of Britain’s biggest energy companies will pay a £700,000 penalty after missing a target for installing smart meters in customers’ homes.
SSE agreed the payment with Ofgem, the industry regulator, after taking about two months longer to hit an undisclosed figure last year.
The FTSE 100 company is the second energy company to be fined for failing to hit its target after EDF paid £350,000 last year for being three weeks late.
Suppliers are obliged to take all reasonable steps to try to install smart gas and electricity meters in every British home and small business by 2020 at an estimated cost of £11 billion. Energy suppliers with more than 250,000 customers agree annual installation targets with Ofgem each year and the regulator monitors…
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/907a4bfc-5648-11e9-a8f5-a9ee11ff7e6d
2 Apr: BusinessGreen: Are UK landlords falling foul of energy efficiency rules going unpunished?
by Michael Holder
It is now over a year since landlords of the most draughty, fuel-poor, energy-wasting homes and offices in England and Wales were told they would have to bring their rental properties up to scratch. Those found breaching the law potentially face fines of up to £5,000, as well as being ‘named and shamed’ on a public register.
Yet, 12 months down the line, concerns are rife that Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) rules are being flouted by some landlords, with properties still being advertised for rent up and down the country which do not appear to comply with the law…
Under the domestic MEES regulations, properties rented out in the private sector must have a minimum energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of E or above, effectively rendering new tenancies for the draughtiest homes at levels F and G unlawful since April last year. The rules, aimed at cutting both energy bills and emissions, apply initially to new tenancies or contract renewals, but by 2020 will apply to all domestic rented properties on the market and by 2023 all commercial properties.
To date, though, landlords have been able to apply for exemptions to the MEES regulations…
The regulations could also be tightened further still in the coming years…
A public register of penalty notices issued by councils is accessible online, but numerous attempts by BusinessGreen to search the database via postcode and town failed to throw up any details of a single landlord who had been punished for failing to meet the MEES standards…
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news-analysis/3073487/are-uk-renters-being-left-out-in-the-cold-on-energy-efficiency
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And as Chris Kenny explains on the front of the Australian, Bill Shorten thinks charging an electric car might take 10 minutes..
“How long does it take to charge it up?” Jackie O asked the alternative prime minister in an interview on the Kyle and Jackie O radio show this morning.
“Oh, it can take, umm … it depends on what your original charge is, but it can take, err, 8 to 10 minutes depend on your charge, it can take longer … ” Mr Shorten replied unconvincingly.
“Is that all?” Jackie O pressed.
“Well it depends how flat your battery is,” Mr Shorten said. ‘
No wonder he is posing with his hand on the charging cable, as if it will be finished quickly.
It shows again that the facts don’t matter, but seriously if the leader of the Labor party thinks this, what does everyone else think?
Climate Change, electric cars, free wages, stop coal, gas and oil and open our borders to everyone, without question.
Remember the ONLY functions of the Federal government in the Constitution were border protection, customs and trade. That from a time a hundred years ago when no one believed the new Australian Federal Government was responsible for the temperature of the planet, cyclones, droughts and floods and bushfires and the distribution of electricity and the sale of coal and gas.
Virtually nothing the Commonwealth thinks it is doing is valid under our Constitution. Mining, Electricity, Communications, Police, Health, Education and everything else is the province of the states. Now this know nothing wants to force us to buy electric cars? Five years ago it was diesels.
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Tesla’s USA supercharging network boasts a 15-30 minute recharge time https://cleantechnica.com/2019/04/04/is-free-supercharging-worth-it-a-guide-to-teslas-supercharging-network-its-unicorn-car/
….and this is the most that can be expected with current ‘best’ technology.
My concern is more about the energy supply and distribution for Australia outside main cities.
In cities, electric vehicles make a lot more sense. They lower carbon monoxide and other ‘real’ polluting gases, particulates and noise. City vehicles, especially delivery trucks, taxis, vans and buses have relatively short and regular itineraries and can be recharged at depots when not in use, often at night.
I’d be quite happy with a two-tier plan. Encourage electric vehicles in urban areas and assist rural internal combustion transport until technology catches up and we have adequate base-load power generation and suitable electricity distribution networks for support.
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If a regular Bus/truck is in operation for 12+ hours a day, how many extra EV bus/trucks are needed to provide the same service?
How easy is it to schedule charging times into a bus route?
How do you provide emergency charging if a battery lost some of its rated performance?
Questions, questions, questions.
Answer Don’t invest in EV’s if you want more than a few hours service on any day!
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Hear the genius at work here:
https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/video/mol/2019/04/04/823452388997218576/1024x576_MP4_823452388997218576.mp4
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OK. Here’s some fun figures.
The Hyundai Ioniq has a 28kWh battery capacity that delivers around 200-230 kms of travel in ideal conditions.
It takes 4 hours and 25 minutes to fully charge via home charge and 23 minutes for a fast charge that charges the battery to 80%.
https://www.hyundai.com.au/cars/blue-drive/ioniq/electric#charging
Now, 8-10 minutes of home charge (or equivalent) will let you drive a further 6-8 kms. 🙁
On the other hand, 8-10 minutes of Fast Charge will give you another 56-69 kms. 🙂
Should you access all those fast chargers on the Hume Highway from Sydney to Melbourne you would need to stop a mere 14 time on the journey down and the same on the journey back up. I’m sure Bill will be working on a strategy to shorten that up a bit. That’s just added another 2-3 hours each way to the journey!
Yep. There’s no doubt that Australia will pay the price again should we end up with Bill Shorten and his Labor green/socialist numb-skulls as an outcome of the next Federal government.
Who briefs these block-heads?
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4 Apr: ClimateChangeNews: Climate movement needs bullying and harassment referee, says Tubiana
The head of the European Climate Foundation said the failure to respond to previous cases that led to harm was ‘heartbreaking’
By Megan Darby
The head of an influential funding body is backing the establishment of an independent “referee” for bullying and harassment complaints in the climate movement.
Laurence Tubiana, who leads the European Climate Foundation (ECF), told Climate Home News a “safe space outside all the organisations” was needed for victims of abusive behaviour to raise concerns…
UN sustainable energy chief Rachel Kyte has also commented on lessons from the Can-I story, tweeting it was “critical” for the non-profit sector to “ensure professional standards of management and governance”….
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/04/04/climate-movement-needs-bullying-harassment-referee-says-tubiana/
4 Apr: ClimateChangeNews: Courts must curb greenhouse gas emissions to protect our liberty
In a court case in Oregon, we argue climate change is destroying our natural spaces and impinging on our constitutional right to freedom
By Stephen Wells
(Stephen Wells is the executive director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund)
More than 150 years ago, the American poet, essayist, and naturalist Henry David Thoreau wrote, “The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild; and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the world.”…
Most of us are aware of the direct causes by now: the profligate burning of fossil fuels, raising animals for food, deforestation, and so on. But, more fundamentally, what has led us to the brink of ecological catastrophe is our collective mindset that all other species and the habitats that sustain them are simply resources to be exploited to fulfill our ever-increasing demands.
The results are grim and alarming…
It is perhaps ironic that recognising the rights of other animals could be the key to protecting the fundamental freedom of liberty…
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/04/04/courts-must-curb-greenhouse-gas-emissions-protect-liberty/
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Extreme valour award Pat for putting your toe in the climatechangenews website waters; I’d have to put on superman’s xray goggles to read that material first hand.
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Updated 4 Apr: Scotsman: World seems ambivalent about swift action on climate change – IPCC chair
by Jim Skea and Hoesung Lee
VIDEO: 1min20sec: STUDENT CLIMATE STRIKE
Reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change will involve answering difficult questions about our lifestyles, and the signs are ambivalent about what action the world will take, write Professor Hoesung Lee, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Professor Jim Skea, co-chair of IPCC Working Group III.
All reasonable doubts about climate change have now been dispelled by both climate science and everyday experience of unusual weather. The world’s attention is now turning to solutions that could reduce and ultimately eliminate emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important greenhouse gas. But CO2 emissions are deeply embedded in the activities and social practices of a modern economy. Power stations, industry, cars, aeroplanes, heating buildings, food production and land management are all major sources of emissions worldwide…
Emissions of CO2 would need to fall by roughly 45 per cent by 2030 from present-day levels to keep us on track towards 1.5C. Are governments, and are citizens, up for that?The signs are ambivalent…
Globally, emissions are still rising…
Addressing the electricity sector alone will not be enough. We would need to reduce radically emissions from heating and transport as well. Technical fixes – whether through the energy supply side or through energy efficiency – are unlikely to be enough. The difficult question of how lifestyles and consumption patterns influence emissions would need to be addressed…
There are grounds for cautious optimism. In particular, the cost of renewable energy – wind and solar – has fallen dramatically in recent years…
Scientists from the IPCC are meeting in Edinburgh this week to grapple with these issues. In particular, they have been invited by governments to consider for the first time the social as well as the technical aspects of emissions reduction…
***CHECK THE 17 COMMENTS/REPLIES – WITH SOME LINKS TO GWPF ETC
https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/world-seems-ambivalent-about-swift-action-on-climate-change-ipcc-chair-1-4900269
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feel like being lectured by Ms Figueres? doubt it, but she’s always good for a laugh:
VIDEO: 1min51sec: 3 Apr: BBC: Five tips for a healthier environment
Christiana Figueres, who helped secure the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, has given BBC Radio 5 Live a list of five things people can do to help the environment.
These included looking at food, transport and how homes are insulated (AND HOW TO VOTE?)
Ms Figueres is the former executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. She now uses her organisation, ***Mission 2020, to pressure countries to do more about global warming.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-47803455/five-things-people-can-do-for-a-healthier-environment
5 Apr: Edinburgh Guide: Edinburgh Medal Address: Christiana Figueres, “Climate Change Where are We?”
The Edinburgh Medal is a prestigious award given each year to men and women of science and technology who are judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding and wellbeing of humanity. The 2019 Edinburgh Medal is awarded to Christiana Figueres, for her work as a recognised world leader on global climate change and her efforts in bringing nations together to jointly deliver an unprecedented climate change agreement…
—
***when you are on a CAGW MISSION, your own EMISSIONS don’t count!
Christiana Figueres to speak in Ann Arbor March 14
Figueres will speak at University of Michigan’s Hill Auditorium…
Former UN climate chief visits the Philippines to promote green investments
Manila Bulletin – 13 Feb 2019
Former United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres is expected to arrive in the Philippines Wednesday evening as part of an Asian tour to draw in more transformative climate investments in the region…
She will be coming from Japan…
After the Philippines, she will head to Indonesia…
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This company https://greensync.com/solutions/dex/ has just been given a cool 10 million by ARENA. to create a virtual energy plant, using rooftop solar, batteries, even EV’s, and was trialled in South Australia
From the SMH
“The deX platform has close to 100 organisation and utility partners using the software across 20 countries. It was used in South Australia by Simply Energy and South Australian Power Networks (SAPN) to start an 8-megawatt virtual power plant trial, also funded by ARENA.” Wonder if Bill in south OZ is in on it?
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“virtual power plant”
definition: “virtual” “not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so.”
ROFLMAO.. You do live in a ‘virtual’ world, don’t you, pfutz. !!
I wonder if it will work as well as Flannery’s hot rocks did.
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The hot rocks concept is sound but as I recall the Flannery associated project was simply botched although according to a report in The Australian the impediments to success in the remote Cooper Basin site are manifold.
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If you had read the info on the link provided, you would have seen that this is well tested, and obviously they have convinced ARENA to give them 18 million all up. The concept is sound, but the cost, as is well known on this blog is hard to justify on a 3 year accounting cycle.
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Flannery convinced people as well.
Its not hard to get ARENA to cough up a pittance of 18 million for a “maybe” concept.
How much was wasted on wave energy.
The real thing is that NONE OF IT IS NEEDED.
Coal and other fossil fuels have the ability to provide CLEAN RELIABALE ENERGY well into the future, as well as providing highly beneficial CO2 to the atmosphere.
Stay in your “virtual”, imaginary world, little pfutz, you are not fit to be part of the REAL world.
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You get a Tesla powerwall, whats not to like? Certainly better than the current offers of around 11 cents
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Answering your own question you’ll be is it?
Shouldn’t you be better occupied contesting AndyG55’s remark as usual?
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Don’t want to set him off, Serp
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So, you are saying that AS USUAL, you are totally incapable of countering anything I say.
Heck, EVERYBODY now knows, thanks to YOUR efforts, that there is zero empirical evidence of warming by atmospheric CO2.
I dare you to put a Tesla power-thingy, paid for by your own money of course, just outside your bedroom wall. !
Stay in your imaginary, “virtual” fantasy La-La-Land, pfutz, its all your mind in capable of.
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What’s not to like?
The Declining Warranty: https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2016/07/02/teslas-incredible-shrinking-powerwall-warranty/
The Risk of Fire and loss of Insurability: https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/south-otago/batteries-pose-hazard-balclutha-fire
The unsupported and insufferable claims: http://www.catalyticengineering.com/top-ten-facts-about-teslas-350kwh-powerwall-battery/
Cheers.
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Hmm, a napalm bomb next to the house? No thanks, rather have lead acid tech thanks.
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It’s a waste of money and effort
Another Weatheall bright idea
Which is going to bite the dust
Flying around in dry SA
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Hmm!
Let’s hope those EV owners of the future aren’t relying on some panels on their roof and a home battery system to charge their EV overnight, eh!
Tony.
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good point, These guys are really just aggregators, but that has proven to be a way to riches in the past.
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So pfutz ADMITS that roof solar is totally useless when it comes to charging useless EVs..
.. so it will all have to come from COAL FIRED power stations, which won’t exist either.
DUMB pfutz.
Great to see you starting to face REALITY, even if it is by accident.
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“From the SMH”
Rolfmao !
a “virtual” fantasy world indeed. !!
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The New York Times has proven itself to chock full of lies on climate change, it’s biggest target Trump, and other stuff as most major media outlets in the US are. Most here would agree. Yet quoting a NY Times reporter as gospel on what is going on in Venezuela is a travesty and calls into question the accuracy of many of the commenters and those who run this site about other subjects they print. Unlike this site willing to print this trash without confirming the truth, anything from the NY Times is suspect as you well know, I have been following the Venezuelan story for years.
Academics who have studied Venezuela will tell you that the countries fortunes for decades have risen and fallen with the price of oil. The country was on a long slide into riots and unrest from 1978 onward as the price of oil fell. Chavez got elected because the economy was a basket case. Yet Chavez got lucky and got a decade of windfall when oil prices drastically went up. As history has shown once oil crashed so did the Venezuelan economy. Those pushing an agenda claim it was socialism that killed the economy of “the richest country in South America” but fail to mention the economy is 70 to 80% CAPITALIST with most coming from foreign multinationals. Those same multinationals who have either exited the country due to the US sanctions or stayed and along with home grown capitalists hoarding goods to justify raising prices to the moon.
The US tried to overthrow Chavez in 2002 and failed and ever since has been creating trouble in the country with the NED and USAID. Some sanctions started over 10 years ago but Obama hit them heavy about 5 years ago calling Venezuela a “danger to US security.” Trumps crew has piled on even more and threatens military invasion. In recent speeches both Trump and Bolton have said once they knock over Venezuela Nicaragua and Cuba are next. The US has stolen their assets, embargoed their oil and Trump made threats against anyone who buys their oil, when they tried crypto Trump personally threatened anyone who dared use it to trade with Venezuela, blocked their access to the credit markets, blocked their trying to bring back their gold from London, and piling on even more sanctions. Don’t be fooled with the propaganda that they are only sanctioning individuals as it’s a smokescreen as they go far deeper than that.
It’s fine that you want to hate socialism but too many people let that blind them to the real story of Venezuela and the suffering and mayhem the sanctions have caused. They also ignore the accomplishments of almost eliminating the once rampant extreme poverty and illiteracy. Now that the lights keep going out after corrupt senator little Marco Rubio and others in the US are calling for subversion and sabotage, right after their failed attempt to install their puppet Guano boy, the blindness raises it’s ugly head and the sudden electricity problems are the fault of socialism not the real culprit the US of A.
Maduro was legally elected as outside observers have said. At the request of the US all but one candidate boycotted the election, he claims he got threats from the US to drop out, so they could call the election a fraud. The US and the compliant media play up that puppet Guano boy is recognized by 50 countries but fail to mention Maduro is recognized as the legal ruler of Venezuela by 150 countries.
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Go right ahead and post links and explain how the doctors who claim maduro using medical supplies to rig the voting system are liars or that this did not materially affect the vote and really it was a “free election”. ‘
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Is this what you mean?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Venezuelan_presidential_election – ⅔ of the way in.
But…
This is the same promise that we see in every election in Australia. For example, tax cuts by party, only work if that party gains power.
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Nice try at obfuscating reality and moving some ideological goalposts by referencing irrelevant comparisons.
It appears that Fitz conflates perceived unsatisfying outcomes in the AU elections to the Venezuelan elections.
As of yet, AU isn’t a Police State. Elections aside.
How are the Maduro or Chavez failures at governance in any way beneficial to the populace?
Hyperinflation, poverty, disease, famine, and the exodus of 3 Million people from Venezuela are somehow a vindication? Explain how and why.
It isn’t clear what point is being made by the Fitz Accords.
Would any sane person invest in Venezuela? Or believe their debt instruments are secure? Or that a banana republic with a fake economy and sham laws is stable? Claim as you will that Maduro is “recognized”, but prithee do define the relationships and agendas of those who provide that recognition. Be honest.
Putin is “recognized” as a world leader. He was “elected” by a majority. But his opponents keep on dying from Polonium and accidents. Interesting. Kim Jong Un got 99% of the “vote” in North Korea. What a surprise.
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Do you think 10% loss is extreme? Are then familiar with the census statistics of the EU countries?
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