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Reader Comments (133)
The Sci Am news article linked below Josh's cartoon also discusses the appointment of Ebell to EPA, and others to the DOE. Even hotter off the press is No Plan B at Marrakesh, where they're implying that now Trump has won they'll be looking for even greater sacrifices from the rest of us.
Just say no.
Does anyone know why the Democrats chose Hillary as their best candidate to beat Trump? Was she considered more honest than Bernie Saunders?
It doesn't add up ....
Residents of Marrakesh are just hoping all the delegates have Return Flights booked and paid for, as they really would not want to be stuck with that lot of freeloaders cluttering up their bars, and getting in the way of happy holiday makers
I grew up in Canada beside Lake Ontario. I can remember Lake Ontario shoreline, one of the Great Lakes, being fended off. No one as allowed to swim in it. The water of one of teh Great Lakes was so polluted by sewage and industrial waste that it was unsafe for swimming. Now Lake Ontario is clean. Environmental regulations were responsible for this.
Environmental regulations are good things.
Environmental regulations are good things.
Nov 10, 2016 at 12:23 AM | TAG
Absolutely agree. Following the Great Stink of 1858, caused by raw sewage, Joseph Bazalgette designed a proper sewage system for London. Industrial effluent continued to flow and the Thames at London was still considered biologically "dead" in the 1960s. UK rivers and waterways are much better now, as the number of anglers proves.
Meanwhile, rivers in developing countries deteriorate, as they industrialise to cope with demand from the developed world with their nice clean rivers.
I think some of you don't understand US government and politics. Trump''s win just gave the GOP bother branches of congress, the presidency, and likely the Supreme Court. Like it or not, he's the boss now. They will work with him, particularly when his stated goals align with the public face of what the GOP is desperately trying to convince voters it still champions.
golf charlie: well, Hillary cheated to help beat Bernie, but at the end of the day, he's a socialist and selling that to our voters would have been difficult. I've seen a lot of people claim Berne could have beaten Trump. They are deluded. It would have been a landslide.
TAG says:
'Environmental regulations are good things'
You are trying to move from the specific to the general.
That one particular environment regulation was a good thing does not mean that all environmental regulations are good things.
And especially beware 'Save the Planeteers' with begging bowls...
Mark T. You are correct that one party will dominate the Executive, the Senate, the House and will be able to appoint so as to dominate the outcomes of the Supreme Court. But only if you consider the Republicans as monolithic. Trump has bruised much of the regular party, which already had splits with its Tea Party wing, and many question if Trump really is a Republican. Trump has many bridges to build and rebuild. I wonder if he has the materials or the engineering qualifications.
One thing is certain, if he is seen to go after Clinton he can kiss any cooperation from the Democrats goodbye. With a fractious Republican party, such cooperation will be needed eventually.
Anything That Pisses Off Luvvies - ATPOL
Does this mean that we can no longer criminalize those we disagree with?
popcorn
Interesting that this morning on a BBC discussion about what the Trump Presidency might tackle first, it was suggested by a prominent Republican (whose name I never caught) that it might be the repeal of Obamacare. Wise, begin with something all parts of the Party and Trump agrees upon, build bridges and trust. Use it to mend internal wounds.
Will the Tea Party be interested?
The Chinese Curse is in overdrive.
Ayla. Does that mean you no longer will be branding us heathens as "climate criminals"?
Extra butter with my popcorn please.
To the astonishment of my family (and especially my son, who has a senior role in the City) - I was in favour of a Trump victory....
What I thought was interesting, was that the FIRST international leader to congratulate him was Vladimir Putin (closely followed by Theresa May) - while both Germany and France were sniffily dismissive....
Says it all, really....
Much wailing and gnashing of teeth:
http://www.ecowatch.com/climate-scientists-react-trump-president-2086750457.html
"Environmental regulations are good things"
Good things for the local ecosystem.
However they do increase costs of production which propels activity to other areas.
It therefore aids the outsourcing of production and thus pollution.
So does it make a real difference at a global level?
Nope.
PS
Trump is the candidate for mass concrete dispersal.
His policies in that regard will not aid human consumption very much.
Industrial or financial oligarchs create their own little bubbles of production / consumption divorced from the wellbeing of the community
Having said that anything is better then the Rubin/ Summers citibank oligarchy that has had total control over all levers of American & Global power since 1993 at the very least.
We could be seeing a transfer of power to a slightly different mafia with more of a concern for the long term viability for their flock of little money angels.
Again his nominations for the executive will tell all.
Everybody and their Auntie new what Obama was when he appointed Summers to his little economic council.
So I suppose we will reserve judgement until then.
"Environmental regulations are good things"
no not always
GOOD "Environmental regulations are good things"
..............................BAD "Environmental regulations are NOT good things"
If you are going out to a Trump protest tonight wrap up warm the weather forecasts it's going be cold
PS
Early November Wintery Snow forecast for next week.
The curse of Climate Change strikes again ,Tut.
Brent Hargreaves
i would have translate dizzyness but vertigo would make the trick in the french sentence as well. both meaning would work well i am afraid you ask the author. :)
"The flood of Trump-fearing American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week. The Republican presidential campaign is prompting an exodus among left-leaning Americans who fear they’ll soon be required to hunt, pray, pay taxes, and live according to the Constitution."
..more from Zerohedge
There are quite a few videos out there of Black pro Trump people laughing at the Hillary bad losers
You are all(?) very strange
It seems that you would even elect a mass murderer (not referring to trump) to rule a major superpower just because he does not support anything environmental or climate change mitigation.
Surely it is right to conserve electricity, run economic cars, prevent pollution, etc. but you seem to suggest this is not good because it is "green"
It will not be long before Brawndo is used to water crops because it contains electrolytes which everything needs.
"The sheep look up" (book) seems to have got the Americans down to a T
somewhat (totally) off topic but rather important for this winters eleccy
https://s25.postimg.org/7okk3wt2n/french_interconnector.jpg
France importing UK power why??
Because:
France’s Nuclear Storm: Many Power Plants Down Due to Quality Concerns, Power, 11/01/2016 | Lee Buchsbaum The discovery of widespread carbon segregation problems in critical nuclear plant components has crippled the French power industry—20 of the country’s 58 reactors are currently offline and under heavy scrutiny. France’s nuclear safety chairman said more anomalies “will likely be found,” as the extent of the contagion is still being uncovered.With over half of France’s 58 reactors possibly affected by “carbon segregation,” the nation’s nuclear watchdog, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN) has ordered that preventative measures be taken immediately to ensure public safety. As this story goes into production in late October, ASN has confirmed that 20 reactors are currently offline and potentially more will shut down in coming weeks.
The massive outages are draining power from all over Europe. Worse, new questions continue to swirl about both the safety and integrity of Électricité de France SA’s (EDF’s) nuclear fleet, as well as the quality of some French- and Japanese-made components that EDF is using in various high-profile nuclear projects around the world……….
The left takes Trump literally but not seriously, hearing only the words and not the meaning. His backers take him seriously but not literally, understanding his meaning. Think also of a billionaire who builds competitive projects of steel and concrete. Not the high tech monopolists, rent seeking and currying government largesse. Bezos buying the Washington post to control the news and protect his vertically integrated Amazon, for example. Soros buying or destabilizing governments for fun and profit.... We do live in interesting times, indeed.
TheFordPrefect. I thank you for the in brackets question mark after "all".
What really drives environmental degradation?
Me thinks it's the nature of the production / consumption process.
Imagine Ireland pre 1970~
The land was deforested by 10,000 years of slash and burn and more recent capitalistic ranch farming post 1500~
However the artifical ecosystem created did have value.
It almost apex predator of the fields was the Corncrake, a summer visitor.
The fields were alive with insects.
However the land was totally denuded of trees in many areas.
What's striking is the old system produced more food per acre then today.
Different systems produce different benefits and costs.
There is no perfect green solution.
Euro green legislation was needed to manage the waste inherent in modern low labour input production methods but there is so many ways to attack the problem.
Essentially peasant economies produce little waste so there is no need to recycle or legislate.
Euro or American corporatism is pro waste.
It needs waste to thrive.
The imposition of its laws increases it's political power.
There is 3 different green movements.
All are incompatible with each other.
1. Green corporatism, most extremely witnessed in euroland.
2. Wilderness greens.
3. Agrarian greens
I do not believe they have anything in common.
They must conflict.
I started off dismissing Trump as a serious candidate but as I got to learn more about him and Clinton I recognised the same characteristics that preceded the Brexit referendum. The majority of the electorate strongly wanted change but the establishment and satisfied voters smugly expected victory.
The climate change argument has effectively been won by the establishment, not based on facts or science, but by weight of opinion. Sceptics are ridiculed and ignored and organisations like the BBC play a major role in promoting the cause while banning debate. Apart from sites like this, sceptics have no voice.
Trump may change the balance of power. He will probably get his own experts to challenge the the climate change assumptions and their policy consequences. This will probably bring to the surface the previously suppressed opinions of the public. A backlash against climate change policies could become widespread.
The BBC will not be able to avoid reporting on such matters and politicians here will watch with apprehension as they realise that what happens in the States generally comes here soon after. I live in hope.
A lot of silliness from Richard Tol and some others.
Trump will have no trouble getting enough quality Republicans to fill out his appointments. He has had Paul Ryan working hard for him during the campaign. Ryan's incredible ground game was the difference in winning Wisc for Trump and Johnson. Ryan is the most powerful Republican inside the beltway. Most of the establishment party will fall in line with Trump. After all, he's a winner and this is politics.
If you want to get a good early read on what Trump will be like as prez, look at his nominee to fill Scalia's slot on the Supreme Court. If he nominates someone like Cruz, that will speak volumes (imo, good). If he goes with someone vanilla like a Roberts, harder to tell.
Much of what Obama has done can be undone with a stroke of a pen. [what goes around comes around] Trump doesn't need Congress to do a lot of what his voters want done.
The most interesting thing to look for is how Trump reacts the first few times the news media tries to bully him. Trump's unapologetic approach is what most appealed to his voters. Usually, Republicans get to DC and begin folding immediately because they can't stand being unpopular in a town that hates them. If Trump continues to laugh at and bait the press for their obvious bias, and ignores their criticism, then that will be truly new and game changing. In that scenario, we may well see some revolutionary stuff.
@Schrodinger's Cat
Do you have room for me to live in your hope by any chance??
@stewgreen
thanx for the link, made me smile
TheFordPrefect says:
'Surely it is right to conserve electricity,...'
Why?
Electricity is a wonderful thing. It saves us all from drudgery and pain. The world before electricity was a dismal dark dreadful place.
Seems to me we should be aiming to give everybody the maximum amount of cheap, reliable, controllable electricity..not to 'conserve' it.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37958030
Meanwhile back in the real world.
Egypt " home grown plan"
(Lagarde has a sense of humour)
As usual the idea is to cut fuel subsides so as to aid financial concentration.
It has nothing to do with actually saving fuel.
Ireland, their model for the last 500 years is for example currently deep within a newv car loan securitisation plan, skewing energy consumed on the economy towards distribution costs and not direct production / consumption.
And they ask why Egypt is now courting Russia again........
If I was the Egyptisn premier I would sell the Mistral ships for 1 billion of cold hard cash rather then engage in the dubious pleasures of Imf repayment.
The Imf is in reality a giant crossborder car salesman with a dubious back handed plan of asset seizure.
The BBC hardtalk interview of Le Pen was interesting.
The propaganda of the Beeb is so poor now that I suspect it's deliberate.
The BBC guy was stupid enough to mention the Polls!!!!!!
The elite are giving people just two choices.
More of the same neoliberalism or the curious new proto fascism best seen in Russia and perhaps soon in France.
This "clash" can best be observed when a especially large movement of especially Dutch surplus Armour into the armed forces of Finland and the Baltics, also large numbers of Old British armoured reconnaissance vehicles.
The Swedish made Dutch sourced Apcs are regarded as the best in the world armed with the still extremely lethal 40mm Bofors
Finland now has approx the same amount of Leopard 2s MBT as the entire denuded German army.
200+
http://www.janes.com/article/57123/estonia-buys-extra-cv90s-from-norway
35 Cv 90s for 600,000.... this is a sweetheart reinforcement if ever I saw one.
Again Cv 90s are regarded as the best all round APC in the world albeit without the 40mm Bofors equipped Finish models.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htPUqG5ZM14
Beeb man eaten alive.
The Bank monopoly on credit question regarding her external seeking of funds from the Russian jurisdiction is especially devastating.
The social credit critic of fascists is that they make all the right moves until they get into power.
They then do a deal with our central bank owners rather then create a national credit office.
Do you think Trump might be interested in Dorko-nomics and import him into his administration? Please.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hg9mvE1FA4
Trump is a product of the Kennedy social crusade of the 60's.
Ever since both parties have tried to court that democratic southern base.
When they find out he is no Kingfish like populist there will be hell to pay.
As for the economic solution, it's very very easy.
You simply take away the banks monopoly of credit
Problem solved.
It is in fact a super conservative position.
Problem is yee Brits think the Tory boys are somehow conservative.
They ain't.
http://www.socred.org/index.php/blogs/view/a-social-credit-proclamation
The Dork of Cork
Indeed, Trump is a 1960s Democrat (he was Democrat until 2009). The 1960s were a strange time when politicians appealed to the self interests of their constituents. So bizarre that the liberal corporate media call him the worst name they can think of, a 'populist'.
If Trump pulls off large-scale economic growth and stops (without a major war) the encroachment on American interests and American allies by the world's less savory powers, he will go down as the best President certainly of this century.
Fingers crossed. The current guy's been a catastrophe and Hillary was unlikely to be any better.
I don't think there's any practical way to put the US back on the Coal Standard for power generation, nor does it really make sense to do so when gas is now so cheap and plentiful and far preferable as a fuel for power generation.
The issue is how to get the tax, regulatory, energy cost, labor quality, etc. situation sorted out to promote economic growth in the places he's promised jobs.
Let's hope the Anti Trump riots continue
The longer they go on the less conciliatory Trump becomes.
PS
So Dork what are the chances of President Trump recognising a United Ireland.
Responses to multiple questions, in no particular order:
Hillary had thoroughly bargained, paid, cheated, extorted, etc. all the necessary controlling positions during her march to power.
She tried before, failed and identified the additional positions Hillary needed to bring under her heel.
Two years ago, certain non or neutral Hillary pundits were already referring to Hillary as the unelected President since she had everyone and everything in her pocket.
Anti-Hillary pundits were referring to Hillary as her unelected highness.
Amazing progress for someone whose sole public achievement is self enrichment.
State Senator, no achievements.
Secretary of State, no real achievements; though she did get several State department employees killed because Hillary was not in actual contact with most State Department employees, just a favored few who 'protected' Hillary from inconvenient questions or problems.
Hint: These are all readable via released emails! Easily found.
At the time of Benghazi, Hillary was receiving comments about how good she looked in a certain dress, and she was very interested in certain pro Hillary polls.
After the Benghazi debacle, Hillary accepted the ruse of blaming Benghazi riots on some unknown film-maker's film about muslims.
Hillary spread the blame on said film-maker far and wide; but to Chelsea and the head of Egypt, Hillary told them what really happened. N.B. Hillary did not accept any blame at any time; darn those rowdy Benghazi murderers.
When the bodies were received back in the USA, Hillary met the plane and the grieving families, where Hillary doubled down on blaming the unknown film-maker. That false story lasted another week before the truth came out.
Throughout 2016, emails were either shaken loose by FOIA actions, or released by whistleblowers.
Evidence appeared that Hillary and the Clinton clan were living high off the funds in the Clinton Charity.
Big donors got special treatment from Hillary at Secretary of State; including one contract where WJC (Bill) assisted Russia in buying a large portion of the American uranium stockpile.
Multiple emails show evidence of "Quid Pro Quo".
Yes, Hillary not only received classified emails on her home baked server; but a special in-house super secret super secure classified message system was installed in her house.
Hillary used her zero security clearance Filipina maid print out all of her messages from both systems.
The Democrat National Committee (DNC) negated Bernie Sanders leads and advantages. When these emails surfaced, several top DNC executives resigned.
A DNC executive slipped Hillary key questions allegedly posed as surprise questions at the debates with Trump.
Another DNC executive had to resign when that email surfaced.
More emails exposed the DNC usage of a company, "Correct the Record", for online trolls to harass anti-Hillary commenters and make it seem like Hillary was more popular. These trolls inhabited Facebook, Twitter and most newspaper columns.
Again, emails and then a sting video interview, exposed a company hired by the DNC to incite violence at Trump rallies. The owner admitted to supplying hired bullies and 'victims' who would be beaten by the fake Trump supporters.
The Democrats employ such nice people...
The sheer litany of illegal, unjust, perversion of democracy, etc. engaged by Hillary is immense. Yet she even managed to game the Department of Justice where senior executives refused to act or indict Hillary.
True investigations into this Clinton legacy will emerge when and if our DOJ are cleansed and returned to honest police work.
In spite of Hillary squandering millions per week throwing every negative stereotype at Trump that her troops could think of; all too many Americans recognized Hillary for the despotic elitist tyrant she is.
Shy Trumpers? Not really.
People learn to keep their mouth shut when elites or anyone from the leftist media inquired about political opinions.
Just like the climate discussion, elites and media tended to sound off loudly and wildly at any suggestion of a vote for trump. Their drama queen acts only served to make voters more determined to vote their thoughts.
This can be viewed very well, by reading Scott Adams comments and articles at his Dilbert comic home. Several times Scott had to announce that he was supporting Hillary, because of the death threats he was getting.
Across the nation, pre election violent acts were almost always Hillary supporter's against Trump supporters. After the election there are videos showing Trump voters getting harassed and beaten.
As far who voted for Trump?
http://www.wsj.com/graphics/elections/2016/where-they-won/
Select the 'show both' option.
Hillary mostly carried high density urban areas and some suburban areas. Trump carried the overwhelming bulwark of the country. The electoral college structure of American voting is expressly designed to work against large population cities from monopolizing votes.
On the https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/_landings/contract/O-TRU-102316-Contractv02.pdf website, you can read Trump's contract with America positions.
As Trumps has already indicated with Obamacare, he is willing to work with politicians to fix it.
Though that is an explosive "fix it". Government run programs bloat and become rigid with immutable bureaucracy. Trump has indicated that he hates over-regulation most. Leaving Obamacare in the hands of government is not a practical long term solution.
Newt Gingrich: “Estonia is in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. The Russians aren’t gonna necessarily come across the border militarily. The Russians are gonna do what they did in Ukraine,” he said. “I’m not sure I would risk a nuclear war over some place which is the suburbs of St. Petersburg. I think we have to think about what does this stuff mean.”
Listening to the homeservice you might get the impression Gingrich said this yesterday.
I believe it was over the summer period.
Has The Baltics been set up as a sacrifice zone!?
You know, reinforce it just enough to put up a bit of a fight and then negotiate over it in some sealed train.
Gingrich seems to be in a powerful position as the recently published basic Trump policy seems to some Newt republican parameters.
@Jamspid.
I have no real interest in Dublin Castle like foregin policy.
I am a localist.
Ironically eastern European developments are more important from a Munster perspective then what happens 200 or 300 miles North as the majority of Irish residents in some age groups ( perhaps under 35) are no longer native Irish
Such is the perversions of our present globalism.
Ironically what makes a invasion of the Baltics more viable is that few young people live there now.
Their only local defence above their tiny professional army is Dad's Army.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida-Viru_County
3 quarters of the population is Russian
Center of Estonia oil shale
Ripe for the picking....
Sanctions has had major effects on the Estonian economy.
It actually forces Russia into a nationalist expansion position.
St Petersberg like all large cities needs large hinterlands.
Especially if it has been denied access to global products such as for example French agricultural surplus.
Nov 13, 2016 at 11:53 AM | ATheoK
The Democrat inquest into what went wrong, who did wrong, and why, is going to involve more fatal career casualties. To make the film and TV rights more valuable, a Pro Celebrity Court Case is required, and it need not have a happy ending to make about 50% of the US population very happy, and the rest, very angry and embarrassed.
"The Clinton's Downfall" has precedence as a title.
I doubt it will Golf Charlie.
More likely the Democrats will blame Comey and the media (for not doing enough) and most definitely won't blame themselves for selecting the unelectable to start with.
On top of their loss of the Presidency, The Senate and Congress the losses run even deeper than this! The Republicans now control 33 States in total, only short of one more to ease the way for passing Constitutional Amendments (and 5 more for complete control that couldn't be blocked by democrats...but many already think this is a step too far for even Republicans in this political period).
Make no mistake, this was a complete and utter slap in the face of Obama and the political elite that has decimated America for their own advantage. HOPEFULLY Trump can at least pack the Supreme Court with judges who actually respect the law for a generation to come, fix obama care, and not only make America great again BUT, more importantly, POWERFUL again!
The world needs a strong America and for the last 8 years we have had the wrong President at the wrong time who has done nothing but embolden the enemies of freedom!
Mailman
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumen_Radev
New President of Bulgaria.
Russian friendly?
Pragmatic nationalist?
If these guys operate out of national interest then there will be a effort to avoid Western / Russian efforts to involve them in various capitalistic proxy fights as the global banking system seeks to renationalise it's claims on us as it did in 1914.
Anyone who thinks that the issues that are driving the popularity of Mr. Trump in the South are remotely related to the issues promoted by the Kingfish is wildly off base and out of touch.
Trump's political history in the 1960s/70s gives him an outlook that makes him believe politicians should represent voters' interests, not sell them down the river like the Clintons did with NAFTA, doubling the prison population and crippling welfare. Recent history has replaced left wing politics with nasty,Neoliberal identity politics in which Clinton and Obama can rip countries apart yet Trump gets landed with a whole lot of racist, sexist and xenophobic accusations he barely deserves.
Pilger labels BBC and Guardian anti-journalism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Ho8OrBzig
It's clear to me that the American left* heard Trump say many more encouraging things than Clintons with their entirely criminal pay to play Clinton Foundation and its role in arming Saudi Arabia, Qatar etc.
*"I think Hillary lost because she was on the wrong side of the class war. From the beginning of their political careers, the Clintons have been on the side of the one-percent against the rest of us, regardless of gender or skin color. Her allegiance to Wall Street finally blew up in her face."
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/11/11/roaming-charges-whitelash-white-heat/
@Hunter
Sure the backwoods of Kentucy is more of a Scottish Pictish culture likely to be vulnerable to John Birch society style false conservatism.
But if Trump fails they just might get it eventually.
The similarity between the last US state challenging the authority of the Feds in the 1930s and the present advanced stage of centralized decay in the EU is quite striking in my opinion.
If you follow the current netflix propaganda programme
"The designated survivor" you will see a strong current within that programme is the President challenging whatever local authority remains.
To the point of arresting a state governor.
It's a sort of preprogramming that Hollywood is so good at.