JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
Is the madness worsening?
40
Boris and Donald may be able to get things back on track, a little anyway.
Mueller’s testimony tonight may even be a watershed moment. I think the Dems have taken a massive gamble.
80
The Demsxarexs bunch of rabid jackals…..let them go long enough and the public will sot em out….”The Squad” is proof of how unhinged things have got, but Trump has thier number….he has them outsmarted , outflanked and outgunned.
70
“The Demsxarexs”
should read
“The Dems are”
New phone….rubbish small keyboard…
100
Demsxarexs – alternative spelling of Demosaurus – a lizard-like creature from the Chesapeake Bay-area swamp, sported an oversize set of large gnashers surrounded by BRIGHT RED LIPS, its bark reputedly worse than its bite, often seen hanging around bars ganging up on their cousins the Bidenosaurus and Buttigiegosaurus – until Berniesaurus and they fled like wild turkeys!
110
Insightful summation re Trump collusion in relation to L-A-W. and on Mueller’s ‘ it “appears” that there was Russian interference in US election.’ Mueller was the head of FBI who testified that Iraq’ had weapons of MD. He’s gotta weak spot for identifying from supposition. Re next election Scott A prediction, Trump in good position, and Biden’s the Democrat sacrificial lamb for an election they don’t think they’ll win.
https://www.scottadamssays.com/2019/05/30/episode-548-scott-adams-mueller-impeachment-trump-and-my-amazing-prediction/
60
Mueller’s testimony was a complete dupe. He waffled refused to answer any questions, said simply I cant answer that. Reports are he seems to have dementia!
60
Talk about “crash and burn”.
40
Listening to the
highlowlights that is the only takeaway. The Dems will have to use that as an excuse to put him out of sight.40
Yes and is unlikely to get better until everyone hits the darkest of dark bottom. Rather like an alcoholic who thinks all his problems are caused by someone or something else until he has no more excuses.
Hopefully, most of us can survive the crash at the bottom of the abyss. Since this is real life rather than a Wiley Coyote Cartoon, hope is a very thin wall of sand to rely upon to save us from the coming whirlwind.
70
Yes for as we run up to 2020, the UN-IPCC’s original date for the majority of western countries to be signed up to the the Paris Accord, they see the whole sham is unwinding around them. 2030 does look very credible either, as those who signed the Paris document have done so very little in practical steps to uphold it’s basic tenets.
Increasingly people see that the science doesn’t work either. Winter’s for many areas are getting colder (and for some lasting significantly longer), and national politicians are increasingly pulling away from the ‘One world’,’Globalized’ doctrine. Increasingly people are seeing the UN as the inept bureaucratic money-wasters, and that it’s always been. The Malthusians are very worried.
Hence the ramping-up of MSM propaganda on ‘Green Energy’, ‘Climate-Change™’, ‘Zero emissions’ Veganism, protests, and stories about exotic and potentially lethal diseases/infections. All of this feeds the paranoia infecting many western children, as well as Ídiots like Extinction Rebellion, and other protest groups such as those funded by Soros.
131
Oops forgot the link…
https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2019/07/23/mainstream-media-abandons-journalism-for-activism-on-climate-change/
50
The plague and other diseases rearing their ugly heads in San Fran have nothing to do with climate, just the incompetence of AGW believing politicians.
70
70
Only 18 months to go, according to the BBC.
51
COMPLETE BS John
So it gets my big red thumb !
30
According to Chukka, you mean. The UK needs to get out of Europe before he lets the big chair and the head-dress.
30
Yes the madness is escalating in both the corporate and government worlds, which is why more and more people are switching to leaders who they think will be better, such as Trump. Trouble is it’s too little too late. The damage is done and the crash is in progress in slow motion. People like Trump, great as they are can do only so much due to the overwhelming size of the swamp, which is full of evil monsters and will take too much time and effort to drain. Sorry but the crash and burn scenario has to play out first before things get better (again).
70
Crash and burn won’t happen in the US, UK or Oz, but you may know something I don’t.
How do you imagine the crash and burn will supposedly happen?
50
I suggest we are about to crash with power prices about triple what they should be.
The burn will come when power prices are about 5 times what they should be/
The burning comes from unemployment and no trade balance- due to industries having been shut down.
China, Vietnam, India, etc will NOT crash and burn.
The CO2 horsesh*t has to stop.
90
Hmmm …. Morrison will kick the multinationals in the teeth for gouging. The government would be unapologetic and adopt the Venezuela model.
12
How do I imagine it will happen? Sorry I don’t have a crystal ball to tell me how exactly it will unfold. One thing I can be sure of is it won’t be pretty.
50
Well I do and Morrison said “we’d keep these energy companies in line, to stop the gouging, to ensure they pass on the savings that are being achieved in wholesale prices.
“And I don’t bluff when it comes to these issues.”
40
23 Jul: Australasian Mine Safety Journal: BHP announces US $400M Climate Investment Program
BHP today announced a five-year, US$400m Climate Investment Program to develop technologies to reduce emissions from its own operations as well as those generated from the use of its resources.
BHP CEO ***Andrew Mackenzie said: “Over the next five years this program will scale up low carbon technologies critical to the decarbonisation of our operations. It will drive investment in nature-based solutions and encourage further collective action on scope three emissions.”
“Commercial success of these investments will breed ambition and create more innovative partnerships to respond collectively to the climate challenge.”
In his speech launching the BHP Climate investment program today, McKenzie said that there is no one simple ‘silver bullet’.
‘Renewables, nuclear, hydrogen, long-term storage of electricity, coal and gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS), negative emissions technologies like re-forestation and biomass with CCS, and other approaches will all contribute to lower carbon outcomes. Yet often to provide simple and sometimes self-serving answers, the contributions of any one solution can be exaggerated. Worse still, important trade-offs and unacceptable consequences, ignored.’
‘Electric vehicles for example, are considered to be lower carbon than internal combustion engines.’…
Other measures announced today include:
•Establishing a new medium-term, science-based target for scope one and two emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. This is in addition to BHP’s short-term goal to cap 2022 emissions at 2017 levels, and the long-term goal of net-zero emissions by mid-century…
LINK Read the speech here.
https://www.amsj.com.au/bhp-announces-400m-climate-investment-program/
***Wikipedia: Andrew Stewart Mackenzie
In 1983, Mackenzie joined BP’s research division. He worked his way to BP Finance, and then as head of capital markets. After 22 years at BP, he left as group vice-president petrochemicals…
In April 2004, Mackenzie joined Rio Tinto as chief executive of the industrial minerals division. In June 2007, he served as the chief executive officer, diamonds & minerals…
***He served as trustee of a think tank, Demos from 2005 until June 2008…
Mackenzie was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2014. His nomination reads
“Andrew Mackenzie is one of the world’s most influential applied earth scientists”…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Stewart_Mackenzie
***Wikipedia: Demos (UK think tank)
Demos is a think tank based in the United Kingdom with a cross-party political viewpoint…
Demos was founded in 1993 by former Marxism Today editor Martin Jacques, and Geoff Mulgan, who became its first director…
In the run-up to the 1997 general election it was seen as being close to the Labour Party, in particular its then leader Tony Blair…
At that time Demos was seen as central to New Labour’s vision for Britain…
31
23 Jul: SMH: BHP sets emissions cuts for customers in major carbon push
By Nick Toscano
Australia’s biggest miner, BHP, will become the world’s first to set goals for its customers to cut greenhouse gas emissions, with an ambitious carbon pledge targeting shippers, steel mills and power plants…
“It is clear from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5 degree report that we all must work to prevent more greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere and to remove some CO2 that is already there,” Mr Mackenzie said, adding that the risks linked to the world’s dependence on fossil fuels may be “existential”…
“It’s a big move for such a major mining company,” said Tim Buckley of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a pro-renewable energy think tank.
“You might be digging it up, but it’s not your coal plant that’s actually burning it – so this is acknowledging that the product they are producing is a major contributor to global carbon emissions.”…
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/bhp-sets-emissions-cuts-for-customers-in-major-carbon-push-20190723-p529wk.html
31
Telling their customers what to do? Sounds like a recipe for being told by their customers what to do.
And not likely to boost sales at all.
By all means spend money cutting emissions if it reduces costs. Spending on things that are fashionable isn’t the way to grow the business. And I have a few BHP shares…time to rethink my portfolio?
80
BHPs decisions of the past have been monumentally BAD.
DRI, Magma Copper, Biliton purchase to name a few.
60
For $400 million I would get an electric truck.
40
A toy model electric truck ?
To BHP ?
For $400 Million ?
SURE THIING !
20
the dangers of the CAGW cult:
The dangers of oil companies that are ‘too big to fail’
Financial Times – 23 Jul 2019
Like US banks a decade ago, many national oil companies wield such economic influence that they have become “too big to fail…
23 Jul: RFI: Climate activist Greta Thunberg replies to French critics
By RFI with Alison Hird
After several right wing French MPs accused Sweden’s Greta Thunberg of being manipulated by green business ahead of her address to parliamentarians on Tuesday, the young activist says they seem more scared of her than of climate change.
***”That is just hilarious,” Thunberg told Konbini News. “I have never once met a climate activist who was in this for money.”…
On Monday several MPs from the far right National Rally (RN) and mainstream right Republicans (LR) voiced their objections to the 16-year old speaking to MPs about climate change during a meeting on Tuesday at the Palais Bourbon.
Some said Thunberg, founder of the Fridays for Future student movement, was being “manipulated” by green business interests and would therefore boycott her address.
“There is no one behind me,” Thunberg said in the Konbini interview. “I receive help from everyone. Everyone who thinks the climate crisis is important basically offers help.”
The accusations against the 16-year old are not new. In February, former green MP Isabelle Attard published an article in Reporterre detailing how Thunberg was being used by green capitalism.
Attard questioned the teenager’s links with Ingmar Rentzhog, an adviser with a think tank linked to the Davos world economic forum who had used her name to raise close to 10 million Swedish krona (945,000 euros) for a new share issue.
The story was based on an investigation by Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.
“We shouldn’t be naive about the role some adults in her entourage are playing,” Attard said while underlining her support “for Greta’s fight”.
Thunberg will speak today alongside some 150 MPs, the vice-chair of the IPCC, French climate scientist Valérie Masson-Delmotte and some 40 other French teenagers.
While some MPs have questioned Thunberg’s legitimacy to talk about climate change, she told Konbini News she would stick to the facts.
“I’m planning to talk a lot about the carbon dioxide budget from the last IPCC report. Just refer to the science and say ‘this is it’.”
http://en.rfi.fr/france/20190723-climate-activist-greta-thunberg-replies-her-french-critics-parliament-fridays-future
22 Jul: RFI: French MPs urge boycott of climate activist Thunberg’s address in parliament
By RFI with Alison Hird
The 16-year-old eco warrior has been invited by a cross-party collective of MPs called “Accélerons” (Let’s accelerate) to spread her message that there needs to be urgent action to tackle climate change…
On Saturday Guillaume Larrivé (LR) called his fellow MPs to boycott Thunberg’s session, tweeting: “We don’t need apocalyptic gurus to fight climate change intelligently, we need scientific progress and political courage”.
Julien Aubert (LR) stopped short of calling for a boycott but said he would not be there to “applaud a prophetess in shorts”.
Referring to Thunberg as the “winner of the Nobel fear prize” he said “yes to the planet, no to green business”, reiterating some peoples’ belief that Thunberg and her followers in the Friday school strikes are being used to further ecological business interests.
Meanwhile Benedicte Peyrol, from the ruling LaREM party, distanced herself from Thunberg and questioned why France couldn’t “honour its own scientists who’ve been active for years in trying to save the planet”…
Later on Tuesday, just a few hours after Thunberg is due to speak, French MPs will vote on the controversial CETA free trade agreement between the EU and Canada.
Approved by the European Parliament two years ago, it must also be ratified by each of the member states of the European Union to become permanent.
Backed by President Macron and the government, MPs with the ruling LaREM party are expected to allow it to be ratified, but there’s plenty of opposition notably from the far-right RN, hard left France Unbowed and the Greens.
Questioned about the vote earlier today, RN spokesperson Laurent Jacobelli expressed surprise that some of the very same who are welcoming Thunberg as an environmental activist will vote to ratify CETA.
“It is ridiculous, we’ve got MPs signing free trade agreements which are going to wreak havoc on the planet and at the same time they welcome a child to talk about ecology,” Jacobelli told RFI. “As if they had lessons to learn from this child who, at the grand age of 16, is predicting the end of the world!
“If our MPs want strong ecological measures they should vote against CETA: in 10 minutes they’ll have done more for the planet than this child has during years of protest.”…
Delphine Betho, president of a green party called Génération écologie, defended Thunberg…
Meanwhile Olivier Faure, head of the Socialists, said we should be sharing Thunberg’s anger “rather than boycotting her”. “We’re not doing enough” he added…
On Sunday Thunberg was given France’s first “Freedom Award” in Caen, in Normandy, in the presence of several D-Day veterans…
On Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel conceded that her government was driven to act faster on climate change by young activists such as Greta Thunberg, who was speaking at a rally in Berlin the same day…
http://en.rfi.fr/france/20190722-french-mps-call-boycott-climate-activist-greta-thunbergs-speech-parliament
42
Here’s an informative interview that goes into the background of Greta Thunberg.
https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/04/28/episode-277-new-green-bankster-rebellion-with-guest-cory-morningstar/
10
then we have something– https://balance10.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-chinese-totalitarian-regime-has.html
https://balance10.blogspot.com/2019/07/what-is-alarm-bell.html
https://balance10.blogspot.com/2019/07/xinjiangs-position-along-various-bri.html
20
Serp questions; “Is the madness worsening?”
Having given up TV three years ago and mostly reading newspapers on Saturdays only, my only intake of news is from the car radio when out driving.
The radio drivel is almost unbelievable in its contorted complexity where every item seems to try to establish genuine victimhood of some person or social group and for which the obvious solution given is more government money.
Their ABC has interviews covering these dramas and the supporting evidence is usually provided by an Emeritus Professor of something or other or at the very least, by a Professor.
This constant nattering is not helpful to people who are trying to see a sensible pathway through life and is blocking the possibilities for the future.
People need Sunshine, Work, Hope and a happy, purposeful community but all we get from our Leadership is Misery.
KK
70
KK
Think Aesop “Misery loves company”.
30
Kinky Keith,
A view from blighty…
I gave up owning and regularly watching a TV some 40 years ago, I do still listen to the radio, read the occasional newspaper, and I’m often on the internet (not watching TV channels though).
What I noticed was that after a year or two you notice how other around you are being manipulated as to what subjects they believe are important. After a while you’ll notice that key words and phrases used by the MSM will infect your TV viewing friends’ conversations. I’ve also noted how people’s emotions are continually being tweaked by MSM news reports (more so these days). There appears to be less dispassionate reporting, more hyper-emotive journalism on most MSM outlets.
I believe I find it is also so much easier to spot a political or financial sales pitch dressed-up as news, as I’ve not been indoctrinated with propaganda sufficiently.
From the few programs I have seen (at a relative house) most ‘entertainment’ appears very simplistic with many repeated themes. Most films/TV features seem very childish — especially all those fantasy and super hero types that employs and relies on large amounts of CGI for its transitory ‘wow’ factor. Real plot lines and truly intriguing characters seem to have gone missing these days. There appears to be almost no entertain/education happening these days.
Mostly I do not miss the 24/7 news. I get more than enough news and entertainment to keep me going as it is.
80
TomOm,
40 years is a long time in the entertainment world.
There is still a lot of trivia, rubbish, bis, etc on TV as with all medi.
Howere, there is also much, much, more choice today and it is possible to live comfortable in the knoledge that you can avoid “ indoctrination” from unwnted sources.
Sport, drama, documentaries, etc are rich sources of entertainment, and with modern technology for recording and “time shift”:viewing, you can take total control of your choices.
I could not imagine a July without being able to watch the Tour de France coverage….just for the stunning scenery and magnificent videography.
20
Tomo, I envy you the forty years of peace and clarity.
We would all be better off with accurate unbiased news but under the current circumstances switching off is maybe the only option.
Alternative sources on the net are still hard to navigate as well.
What to believe.
30
A taskforce on why the ‘science’ got it so wrong might be more practical …
2009, Oct: Global warming could make 2016 Games ‘the last Olympics in the history of mankind’, says Tokyo governor
https://www.reuters.com/article/olympics-tokyo-environment-idUSLU38985020090930
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announces taskforce to explore cost of 2032 Olympics
https://www.9news.com.au/videos/queensland-premier-annastacia-palaszczuk-announces-taskforce-to-explore-cost-of-2032-olympics/cjyf6rosm00010goz4y0wy6ii
40
‘the last Olympics in the history of mankind’ most likely reason is there will be a world war!
40
I did a survey on survey the other day. Apparently our ABC wants to know more about Vote Compass participants.
The survey was quite comically slanted, I guess as you would expect and at times very personal. Some examples:
– questions about climate change with answers only possible in a range that say AGW exists
– could you have a relationship with someone holding strong right wing views? (no question about left wing views)
– questions about dealing with a warming world as a fait accompli
– questions about how much i drank and how often
– questions about what drugs I took and how often
– questions about my gambling
As i grew more frustrated by the questions my answers grew more and more stupid, so as far as they are concerned i am a drug and alcohol riddled, french speaking, indigenous person who thinks climate change is BS and we need to have more personal responsibility. That will have to do.
80
Golly! What a picture. I’ll never recognise you if I bump into you, or maybe I will if you start talking in French 🙂
Perhaps the vision will resemble our revered local postie?
30
I’ll be in the yellow, black and red Tutu, singing La Vie en Rose a little bit too enthusiastically.
10
I’ll keep an eye out! What a vision 🙂
10
Yarpos I got two emails inviting me to complete that survey.
And given the Australian Brainwashing Corporation’s track record
Deleted both of them after a moment’s thought.
And here you tell me exactly what I thought would be the case
Biased brainwashing bull Sh#t built into the survey.
Not my ABC
60
Morning all,
I’m delighted to be able to tell you that my original letter the The Land, with some editorial adjustments which don’t change my original thrust, has been published in today’s (Thursday July 25) edition.
…
Apart from any personal pleasure in getting my views out there, this is the third week in a row in which The Land has published comment questioning the IPCC doctrine.
…
(In Jo’s most recent Weekend Unthreaded I said I had another letter drafted for The Land and intended to send it last Monday. I decided to defer that after some positive communication from and to the editor who asked for references to justify what has now been published. I’ll now need to revise my second letter.)
…
Three cheers for The Land says I.
…
Full text of today’s letter follows.
(For non-Australians, the word “furphy” originated during WW I from Australian troops, who heard rumours while gathered around a drinking water tank made by a company “Furphy” for the army. I consider it an accurate term to describe the reliability of IPCC projections.)
…
Cheers
Dave Beach, Cooyal
…
Many thanks to John Carter for his article pointing out some of the flaws in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change models of climate change (“Moving deckchairs on Australia’s Titanic”, The Land, July 11, p25).
I agree with his views and would like to expose another IPCC furphy, that being the organisation’s understanding of CO2’s greenhouse capability.
The IPCC’s estimation of a temperature coefficient it uses in the calculation of future global temperatures appears to contain a large degree of variability (see report Climate Change 2007, The physical science basis, Summary for policy makers, p12).
It says the global average surface warming following a doubling of carbon dioxide concentrations is likely to be in the range two to 4.5 degrees Celcius, with a best estimate of about three degrees, and is very unlikely to be less than 1.5°C.
Like the coefficient of expansion of steel, or ice, or concrete, they need to start out with as small an expected error as possible.
That their confidence level is nearly 50 per cent of their best estimate is unacceptable for such an important calculation.
70
When I was in the Army from 1965 to 1975 we still used the term Furphy.
00
Mueller hearings:
Mueller deferred or declined to answer questions 206 times
CNN – 4 hours ago
24 Jul: Townhall: White House: Mueller Testimony Was an Epic Embarrassment
by Katie Pavlich
Democrats are admitting things did not go well…
The White House just sent around this long list of brutal statements and reactions:
***LONG LIST OF QUOTES
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2019/07/24/white-house-mueller-testimony-was-an-epic-embarrasment-n2550546
24 Jul: WashingtonExaminer: Michael Moore to Democrats that said trust Mueller: ‘STFU’
by Mike Brest
Director and anti-Trumper Michael Moore took to social media to express his displeasure with special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony, and to scold those who expected much from it…
“A frail old man, unable to remember things, stumbling, refusing to answer basic questions…,” Moore tweeted. “I said it in 2017 and Mueller confirmed it today — All you pundits and moderates and lame Dems who told the public to put their faith in the esteemed Robert Mueller — just STFU from now on.”
The special counsel’s testimony appeared to be a dud for Democrats according to MSNBC, as he incessantly asked for committee members to repeat themselves and appeared unfamiliar with many aspects of the report.
He was far from the only person to express frustration with Mueller’s testimony, with several taking to Twitter to describe him as “senile.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/michael-moore-to-democrats-that-said-trust-mueller-stfu
25 Jul: Fox News: CNN analyst: Trump is ‘winning’ war between himself and Robert Mueller after Capitol Hill hearings
By Nick Givas; Fox News’ Vandana Rambaran contributed to this report
In the wake of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s hearings on Capitol Hill, the liberal network’s chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said Trump is coming out on top in at least one battle of public perception.
Toobin said Mueller played his cards close to the vest during his testimony, and in doing so, ceded back control of the narrative to the commander-in-chief…
“And you look who’s winning now, and it certainly seems like Donald Trump is winning between the two of them.”…
He was unfamiliar, at one point, with Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm behind the controversial Steele dossier which was used to obtain a FISA warrant against the Trump campaign’s Carter Page…
https://www.foxnews.com/media/mueller-trump-winning-toobin-cnn
Trump critic Laurence Tribe (Harvard) slams Mueller testimony: The ‘hearing was a disaster’
Washington Examiner-5 hours ago
TWEET: Laurence Tribe
Much as I hate to say it, this morning’s hearing was a disaster. Far from breathing life into his damning report, the tired Robert Mueller sucked the life out of it. The effort to save democracy and the rule of law from this lawless president has been set back, not advanced.
25 Jul: Bloomberg: Mueller’s Testimony Was Just as Confusing as His Report
By Noah Feldman
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***Youtube: 5min08sec: 24 Jul: PBS Newshour: WATCH: Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) full questioning of Robert Mueller/ Mueller testimony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EbrfiAxjY0
Youtube: 5min11sec: 24 Jul: PBS Newshour: WATCH: Rep. Devin Nunes’ full questioning of Robert Mueller | Mueller testimony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNIipT35Eh4
Youtube: 5min04sec: 24 Jul: PBS Newshour: WATCH: Rep. Doug Collins’ full questioning of Robert Mueller | Mueller testimony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPW1MAiYb6Q
Youtube: 5min06sec: 24 Jul: PBS Newshour: WATCH: Rep. Matt Gaetz’s full questioning of Robert Mueller | Mueller testimony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHasBjRJAbc
Youtube: 3min03sec: 24 Jul: PBS Newshour: WATCH: (Rep John) Ratcliffe (R-Texas) asks Mueller whether Steele dossier was part of Russian election meddling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsVn3f-UGLE
Youtube: 5min08sec: 24 Jul: PBS Newshour: WATCH: Rep. Michael Turner’s full questioning of Robert Mueller | Mueller testimony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VijjacEjSkI
Youtube: 5min17sec: 24 Jul: PBS Newshour: WATCH: Rep. Gohmert (R-Texas) pushes Mueller on whether anti-Trump bias existed on his team
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfDBOZwnxXE
30
25 Jul: Fox News: Trump says Mueller did ‘horrible’ job at hearings, but had ‘nothing to work with’
By Vandana Rambaran
President Trump slammed former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimonies before two House committees on Wednesday afternoon, saying he “did a horrible job both today and with respect to the investigation,” but “in all fairness to him he had nothing to work with.”
Trump called to “investigate the investigators,” reiterating his sentiments that Mueller’s Russia investigation that spanned over two years was a “ridiculous hoax” and a “witch hunt that’s been going on for a long time…
Mueller confused lawmakers and the public when he initially testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday that if it were not for the Office of Legal Counsel rule that says a sitting president can not be indicted while in office, Mueller would have criminally charged the president based on the findings of his investigation.
“The reason that you did not indict the president is because of the OLC opinion that you cannot indict a sitting president, correct?” Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. asked Mueller.
“Correct,” Mueller replied.
Mueller backpedaled on these remarks at the top of the second hearing of the day in front of the House Intelligence Committee, saying “I want to add one correction to my testimony this morning. I want to go back to one thing that was said this morning by Mr. Lieu, who said and I quote, ‘You didn’t charge the President because of the OLC opinion. That is not the correct way to say it. As we say in the report and as I said at the opening, we did not reach a determination as to whether the President committed a crime.”…
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-says-mueller-did-horrible-job-at-hearings-but-had-nothing-to-work-with
24 Jul: Powerline: Mueller’s Testimony Bombed
Don’t take my word for it, that’s what the Democrats say…
by John Hinderaker
Byron York comments on Mueller’s confused performance:
…Mueller was slow to react to questions. He frequently asked for questions to be repeated. He sometimes appeared confused. He did not appear to be conversant with some issues in the investigation. He did not, or could not, put together detailed answers even to those questions he agreed to address…
“You wonder how much of this was affecting the investigation,” one Republican member of the House said as he watched Mueller’s testimony. “It sheds a lot of light on what happened the last two years. He wasn’t in charge.”…
The most shocking instance that I am aware of is that Mueller was unfamiliar with Fusion GPS, the firm run by Glenn Simpson that was hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign to dig up (or fabricate) dirt on Donald Trump.
“When discussing the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, you reference ‘the firm that produced the Steele reporting.’ The name of that firm was Fusion GPS. Is that correct?” Chabot asked.
Mueller asked for the page number the congressman was referring to, and fumbled through his more than 400-page report.
“Page 103. That’s correct- Volume II. When you talk about the firm that produced the Steele reporting, the name of the firm that produced that was Fusion GPS. Is that correct?”
“I am not familiar with—with that, I—,” Mueller replied…
If Mueller doesn’t know who Fusion GPS is, he not only had little or nothing to do with the production of the report that bears his name, he couldn’t even have been following the news for the past two years. Or else his capacities have faded badly in recent months.
One way or another, the day was a disaster for the Democrats. Whether it deals a death blow to their efforts to keep the Russia hoax alive remains to be seen.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/07/muellers-testimony-bombed.php
24 Jul: USA Today: GOP lawmaker takes out textbook, tells Mueller he doesn’t have ‘power to exonerate’
by Ryan W. Miller
Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, blasted Mueller for saying that his report did not exonerate President Donald Trump because he said Mueller does not have the legal power to exonerate Trump.
“The statement about exoneration is misleading, and it’s meaningless. It colors this investigation – one word of out the entire portion of your report. And it’s a meaningless word that has no legal meaning, and it has colored your entire report,” Turner said..
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/24/robert-mueller-testimony-michael-turner-says-no-one-can-exonerate/1817251001/
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so what does FakeNewsABC have to say?
25 Jul: ABC: Robert Mueller did not exonerate Donald Trump, but the man in question disagrees
Former special counsel Robert Mueller said in dramatic US congressional testimony he had not exonerated President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice, and defended the integrity of his inquiry under repeated attacks by conservative Republican allies of the President…
Mr Mueller’s investigation led to criminal charges against 34 people and three Russian entities.
People who were convicted at trial or pleaded guilty included Mr Trump’s former campaign chairman, deputy chairman and other aides…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-24/robert-mueller-donald-trump-russia-election-meddling-testimony/11343830
AUDIO: 3min 50sec: 25 Jul: ABC AM: Mueller denies Donald Trump was cleared of ***collusion
By Zoe Daniel
The former US Special Counsel Robert Mueller has refuted Donald Trump’s claim that he was cleared of obstruction and collusion in his report on Russian election meddling.
Featured:
Jerrold Nadler, House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Democrat
Robert Mueller, Former Special Counsel
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/adelaide/programs/am/mueller-denies-donald-trump-was-cleared-of-collusion/11344614
25 Jul: ABC: Five things we learned from Robert Mueller’s testimony on Donald Trump’s links to Russia
By Washington bureau chief Zoe Daniel and Emily Olson
1. Mueller refuted Trump’s claim that he was exonerated…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-25/robert-mueller-donald-trump-russia-investigation-five-takeaways/11344610
AUDIO: 6min55sec: 25 Jul: ABC Breakfast: The Mueller hearings in under seven minutes with Matt Bevan
The hearings established that the President’s repeated claims that he was exonerated of obstruction of justice are incorrect.
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/the-mueller-hearings-in-under-seven-minutes-with-matt-bevan/11344608
AUDIO: 11min29sec: 25 Jul: ABC Breakfast: Robert Mueller confirms he did not exonerate Trump in Russia probe
Guest: ***Jill Wine Banks, former Watergate prosecutor
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/robert-mueller-confirms-he-did-not-exonerate-trump/11344602
ABC cherry-picked their guest, as usual:
‘A New Legal Argument for Impeachment’
Politico-4 hours ago
***Jill Wine-Banks is a former assistant Watergate special prosecutor…
How Jill Wine-Banks Uses Witty Pins to Express Her Progressive Politics
Vogue.com-8 Aug 2018
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shut down the ABC.
VIDEO: 24 Jul: Fox News: Mueller issues clarification, takes back bombshell statement about indicting Trump
By Ronn Blitzer
(Republican Ohio Rep. Mike) Turner suggested, during Wednesday’s House Intelligence Committee hearing, that Mueller’s decision to state definitively that Trump was “not exonerated” by his report was an attempt to address the American public and the ***media rather than Attorney General William Barr, to whom the report was actually addressed…
Mueller argued that he had specifically included that comment in case Barr was unaware that his report did not exonerate the president.
“So you believe Bill Barr believes somewhere in the hallways of the Department of Justice there’s an office of exoneration?” Turner asked.
“No, that’s not what I said,” Mueller replied.
“Well I believe he knows and I don’t believe you put that in there for Mr. Barr,” Turner shot back. “I think you put that in there for exactly what I’m going to discuss next, and that is that The Washington Post yesterday, when speaking of your report, the article said Trump could not be exonerated of trying to obstruct the investigation itself. Trump could not be exonerated. That statement is correct, Mr. Mueller, isn’t it, in that no one can be exonerated?”
Turner went on to explain further, arguing that exoneration was the wrong standard to hold up simply because there was no way to exonerate anyone. “This reporter can’t be exonerated. Mr. Mueller, you can’t be exonerated. In fact, in our criminal justice system, there is no power or authority to exonerate,” Turner continued. “This is my concern, Mr. Mueller. This is the headline on all of the channels while you were testifying today. ‘Mueller: Trump was not exonerated.’ Mr. Mueller, what you know is it can’t say Mueller exonerated Trump. You don’t have the power or authority to exonerate Trump. You had no more power to declare him exonerated than you have to declare him Anderson Cooper.”
“The statement about exoneration is misleading,” Turner accused in conclusion. “And it’s meaningless, and it colors this investigation. One word out of the entire portion of your report, and it’s a meaningless word that has no legal meaning, and it has colored your entire report.”
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mueller-issues-clarification-takes-back-bombshell-statement-about-indicting-trump
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The Age had a cut and past WaPo article that just focussed on the lack of exoneration, gotcha! style. They really are complete idiots.
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Pat, what else to expect from the Australian Brainwashing Corporation ?
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24 Jul: GatewayPundit: Democrats on Suicide Watch Following Mueller Meltdown
by Jim Hoft
It was a rough day for Democrats and their fake news media…
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/07/democrats-on-suicide-watch-after-mueller-meltdown/
very funny:
VIDEO: 3min31sec: 24 Jul: Fox News: (Greg) Gutfeld on the Mueller hearings
So can you repeat the question, sir?
“This is very, very painful.” Those aren’t my words, but David Axelrod tweeting about the House hearings questioning former Special Counsel Robert Mueller about his Russia probe.
As much as they hoped for a 12-alarm fire, all Democrats got was a damp sparkler.
They wanted “The Empire Strikes Back” but got a re-run of “Matlock.” They wanted a Super Bowl. Instead, they got a test pattern…
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/gutfeld-on-the-mueller-hearings
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That picture in the Gateway Pundit article is gold 🙂
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Off topic, but…
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Vale.
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Youtube: 51min50sec: Fox News: Sean Hannity 7/24/19 [FULL]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruQRQj5iLxk
Youtube: 47min19sec: Fox News: Tucker Carlson Tonight 7/24/19 [FULL]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sm5Up1qzfk
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Mueller testimony being the topic du jour
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Pat, The Muller fiasco is just a side show to us Aussies.
Curious and slightly interesting
For the way that a major political party in the USA has been behaving.
But for Aussies
That’s all..A time consuming, pretty boring side show…
And yes I think Trump is doing a good job as
President of the United States
FOR Americans..
But after all that is his job.
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OTOH I am in thrall of the DIRTY politics involved. Ours is strictly minor league by comparison.
You should be concerned, a strong US is essential to our wellbeing and if the coup succeeded in toppling Trump we would be at the mercy of a hegemonic China. Clinton is for sale to Russia and Biden to China.
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I am impressed with the string of poor decisions and directions the Democrats are making. They appear to be the Donalds greates asset going toward 2020. They make Labor /Greens look like amateurs, except maybe Bob Brown. He would be a great addition to their team.
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Large numbers can wash over you without registering.
The Robbins Is wind farm Bob Brown objects to is proposed to have towers 270M tall. How tall IS that? For anyone who has visited Townsville and seen Castle Hill, the monolith that stands guard over the city, that is 260M high according to google earth. I can’t imagine how much concrete and steel there would be in the foundations.
Here’s a pic
http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/castle-hill-townsville-picture-id827906018?s=170667a&w=1007
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For those who havent been to Townsville, about twice as high as Sydney Harbour Bridge or a tall as the Eureka Tower in Melbourne. They are going to stand out a bit.
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Hanrahan:
He also mentions (perhaps later) that 23 migratory bird species will be IMPACTED.
There is also the question as to why 170 km. of forest has to be destroyed to connect the wind farm to the (proposed & subsidised) second Bass Strait connector?
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UPC have said that they will to build towers within 1km of a sea eagle nest. That’ll work…
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Graeme, if you check the latest proposed route of the transmission line, I believe that it’s now planned to run through farming land rather that the forest.
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The Robbins Island towers themselves won’t be that tall – that measurement is from the ground to the top blade tip.
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” that measurement is from the ground to the top blade tip.”
Yes, I know that but wind pressure works on the blades up to that height. How many tons of concrete and steel do YOU think would be in the foundations?
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Based on info from a slightly smaller tower, I believe the base would require around 1600 tonnes of concrete and rebar, and could be up to 15 metres across and up to 10 metres deep. More than 60 truckloads of concrete. They will remain forever desecrating the landscape as monuments to man’s stupidity.
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Also time goes on, the GRP blades will shed more and more fibres which will fall to the ground and be ingested by any cattle grazing under them. Remind me never to eat beef from Robbins Island.
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25 Jul: ChicagoTribune: Column: Democrats suffer anxiety attacks over Robert Mueller testimony, and blame him rather than themselves
by John Kass
There must have been a point in the Robert Mueller hearings when the big thinkers of CNN and MSNBC curled up on the floor in fetal positions and began breathing into brown paper bags, trying to remain calm…
http://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/john-kass/ct-robert-mueller-testimony-kass-20190725-mdinqjpfwzgj3nvyesr34ewqti-story.html
25 Jul: Boston Herald Editorial: The collapse of Mueller and his report
Total confusion at hearings discredits Mueller findings
By Boston Herald editorial staff
What an unmitigated disaster Robert Mueller’s appearances before congressional hearings were yesterday. So confused, frail and doddering was the former special counsel that the integrity of his nearly 450-page report must be questioned…
https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/07/25/the-collapse-of-mueller-and-his-report/
over at theirABC, they bring on Ben-Veniste, a FakeNewsCNN “analyst” since 2017:
AUDIO: 3min 56sec: 25 Jul: ABC The World Today: Mueller testimony confirms vulnerability of democratic processes
By Eleanor Hall
But Mr Mueller did very clearly contradict President Trump’s claims of exoneration over obstruction of justice, and he issued a warning about foreign interference in the 2020 election.
Richard Ben-Veniste was a special prosecuter on the Watergate hearings and a member of the 9-11 Commission.
He said although Mr Mueller’s testimony seemed ‘halting and confused’, it did confirm that state powers are now capable of skewing democractic processes in other countries through deliberate manipulation.
Featured:
Richard Ben-Veniste, Watergate special prosecutor; 9-11 commission member
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/mueller-testimony-confirms-vulnerability-of-democratic-processes/11345580
then they link Richard Painter to Dubya for the PM program!?
AUDIO: 6min 15sec: 25 Jul: ABC PM: Trump will exploit Democrats’ “running away” from impeachment
By Sally Sara
Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer during George W. Bush’s administration, is a professor of law at the University of Minnesota.
Speaking with PM’s Sally Sara, he says there is clear evidence of Donald Trump engaging in serious misconduct, but that not a single Republican is willing to back impeachment, and that most Democrats are apparently too timid to push for the President’s indictment.
Featured:
Members of United States House of Representatives
Robert Mueller, special counsel, United States Department of Justice
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, United States House of Representatives
Richard Painter, professor of corporate law, University of Minnesota and chief ethics lawyer 2005-2007, George W. Bush administration
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/trump-will-exploit-democrats-running-away-from-impeachment/11347380
ABC – it takes a second to learn about Painter online…even on biased Wikipedia:
Wikipedia: Richard Painter has been affiliated with the Campaign Legal Center, a left-leaning group that is a frequent critic of the Trump administration. Throughout 2017 he was involved in the CREW lawsuit against Trump, CREW v. Trump. (The case was dismissed by the district court, which found that the plaintiffs lacked standing; CREW’s appeal is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit)…
In May 2017 Painter compared the Trump administration with Nixon’s scandals, saying, “Nixon may have been a crook, but at least he was our crook. He wasn’t a Russian agent!”…
In early 2019 Painter told German newspaper Deutsche Welle that the indictment of Roger Stone was “evidence of collusion between high-ranking officials in the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks to obtain documents stolen by the Russians in the 2016 election.”…
In April 2018 he announced that he would run as a Democratic (Minnesota DFL) candidate in the primary against the incumbent Senator Tina Smith…Painter finished a distant second, with 14% of the vote to Smith’s 76%…
Painter rejects the Trump administration’s approach to carbon emissions and departure from the Paris Agreement. He believes that human-caused climate change is an existential threat to human life, and wants to make various political changes to try to prevent it, including:
Implementing a carbon tax
Removing climate change deniers from office
Reentering the Paris Agreement
He supports creating these jobs by expanding tax credits that can help grow solar energy farms across Minnesota. Painter believes that investing in clean energy will increase jobs in all areas of processing, such as installation, manufacturing, sales and distribution, and project development…
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unbelievable! do I detect smirks on their faces?
VIDEO: 4min49sec: 25 Jul: ABC 7.30 Report: Leigh Sales: Robert Mueller gives testimony before the US Congress
It’s been a big day in Washington … where the former FBI Director Robert Mueller has appeared before congress to face questions about his investigation into the Trump campaign’s links to Russia and Russia’s influence on the 2016 Presidential election outcome. Former US State Department lawyer ***John Bellinger discusses what happened.
https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/robert-mueller-gives-testimony-before-the-us/11347968
Wikipedia: John B. Bellinger III, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations…
From 1991 to 1995, he practiced law with ***Wilmer Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C…
He is a senior contributor to ***Lawfare, a national security law blog…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Bellinger_III
***Wilmer Cutler & Pickering is known as WilmerHale:
Wikipedia: Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
Notable attorneys and lawyers, past and present:
Hale & Dorr
***Robert Mueller
Wilmer Cutler & Pickering
***John Bellinger III
Wilmer Hale
***Robert Mueller
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmer_Cutler_Pickering_Hale_and_Dorr
Wikipedia: Aaron Zebley
Aaron M. Zebley is a former member of the special counsel investigation previously headed by Robert Mueller…
Zebley followed Mueller from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the law firm ***WilmerHale and also subsequently left when Mueller resigned to become the special counsel…
While in private practice at ***WilmerHale, Zebley was an expert in cybersecurity and represented a wide range of clients, including Justin Cooper, a former aide to Hillary Clinton, and the National Football League…
In May 2017, after Mueller was appointed as special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Zebley resigned from WilmerHale to join the Special Counsel investigative team…
—
READ ALL:
23 Jul: ConservativeTreehouse: As Predicted – Mueller Will Not Testify Alone – Handler Aaron Zebley Now Added…
by sundance
The schemes of Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler are predictable. As we said three months ago, Robert Mueller would not be allowed to testify without a handler. Small group participant Aaron Zebly will now join Mueller for his testimony. This has always been the plan, but strategically announced today.
Remember, Mueller’s team is working closely with Nadler’s team; they are part of the same purpose. They are all part of the same network. The impeachment objective is a group effort from inside government & outside (***Lawfare). These are not separate groups…
The pre-planning was why Chairman Nadler hired Lawfare Group members to become committee staff. Chairman Schiff hired former SDNY U.S. Attorney Daniel Goldman (link), and Chairman Nadler hired Obama administration lawyer Norm Eisen and criminal defense attorney Barry Berke (link). All these participants are within the Lawfare network. Aaron Zebly is just another key player in the coordinated group…
Remember, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller didn’t come into this process as an ‘outsider’, and Mueller didn’t select his team. The corrupt Lawfare team inside government (FBI Counsel James Baker, DOJ Deputy Andrew Weissmann, FBI Deputy McCabe etc.) already knew Mueller. The team had established personal and professional connections to Mueller, and they brought him in to lead the team.
When you realize that Robert Mueller didn’t select the team; rather the preexisting team selected their figurehead, Robert Mueller; then results make sense. Robert Mueller can never be allowed to testify alone to congress because if questioned he actually has very little understanding of what took place.
Not enough people understand the role of the Lawfare group in the corruption and political weaponization of the DOJ, FBI and larger intelligence community…
FBI Director James Comey, FBI Legal Counsel James Baker, Comey memo recepient Daniel Richman, Deputy AG Sally Yates, Comey friend Benjamin Wittes, FBI lead agent Peter Strzok, FBI counsel Lisa Page, Mueller lead Andrew Weissmann and the Mueller team of lawyers, all of them -and more- are connected to the Lawfare group…READ ALL
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/07/23/as-predicted-mueller-will-not-testify-alone-handler-aaron-zebley-now-added/
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Electricity prices across the grid fall to zero as renewables reach 44% share
You don’t get to see this very often – when the spot price of electricity on all the state-based grids in Australia’s main wholesale market hit zero at the very same time.
The incident, captured in this screen shot of the Australian Energy Market Operator’s data page by Macquarie Capital’s Brian Morris and posted on his LinkedIn account, occurred at 1.15pm on Sunday.
This was when cloudless skies and good breezes – combined with low demand – pushed the share of renewables to more than 43 per cent. At the time of the zero pricing, wind was providing 12.3 per cent of supply in the National Electricity Market, while the combination of rooftop solar and utility-scale solar was providing 22.5 per cent. (Graph at top, courtesy of OpenNem.org).
https://reneweconomy.com.au/electricity-prices-across-the-grid-fall-to-zero-as-renewables-reach-44-share-77635/
They seem to think this is a good thing, that consumers are getting “free” electricity. They aren’t of course, the wind/solar generators are still pocketing their subsidies and the coal burners will still need to be paid to keep the grid stable.
Some bright spark in the comments says that all this “excess” renewable power should be put to use running desal plants. Hang on! There is no ‘excess” if they are only generating 44% of load. And I’d imagine that starting and stopping desal plants depending on wind would be even stupider than doing so with coal fired gen sets.
This afternoon when I read this Qld still had a $0 price while southern states were >$100. They were using a few hundred MW pumping water uphill though.
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