Pre-election coal advertising funded by money meant for clean coal research

thinkingdoing · 2017-02-20T17:37:32+00:00

The deception of clean coal is in the word "clean", though.

Cleaning means removing the impurities, so when people think of clean coal they imagine something like a pool/Brita filter attached to the smoke stack at the power plant, scrubbing out some of the crap and pumping out clean air.

As you explain in your comment, it's not that at all.

Coal is a bunch of carbon atoms that are tightly bound together. Burning it splits them apart, and each one that flies off grabs two oxygen atoms (creating C02 gas).

The gas released actually weighs MORE than the lump of coal that created it!

So what clean coal means is:

1) We have to capture a greater amount of shit coming out of this plant than we put into it.

2) It's a gas so we can't just scoop it up and shovel it on trucks like regular waste. We have to make the entire process airtight.

3) We have to find or build a massive airtight storage facility to hold this shit-ton of dangerous gas for at least the next several thousand years.

The politicians and coal industry people who are pushing the delusion that any of this will ever be economically feasible are corrupt as fuck because they already know this.

They keep up with the lie so they can steal billions of taxpayer dollars for "research" while also protecting their golden goose.

They are stealing from our future, because every dollar given to clean coal is another dollar Australia's next generation will have to spend to decarbonise our economy.

Abbott, Morrison, Turnbull and the Liberal/National Parties will go down in history as villains for this despicable betrayal of the national interest.

Jaxyl · 2017-02-16T14:12:58+00:00

The sad reality is that a lot of events like this happened, just no one was lucky enough to survive.

Think about it, this event lives on because two people survived. How many other events like this happened where no one made it? The sheer amount of forgotten sacrifice is awe inspiring and a reason why war is a terrible wrong.

Ballacon · 2017-02-14T06:29:58+00:00

They're not animals.

Yes they are.

Transientmind · 2017-02-09T23:34:24+00:00

No, we want fast speeds and no caps. We don't necessarily want lightning fast speeds IF it means we can unexpectedly/accidentally find our speeds throttled for the remaining 29 days of the fucking month.

And don't try that fucking bullshit that no-one wants the highest speeds because they're not fucking buying them. Just because I don't buy a thirty dollar granny smith doesn't mean I don't want to eat a fucking apple, you prick.

blasto_blastocyst · 2017-02-09T22:27:48+00:00

"How many times do I have to tell you people? There's no demand for it. "

udalan · 2017-02-09T00:42:05+00:00

Yeah I live in the NT, have have spent a fair amount of time in remote community, and know exactly what you are talking about.

It's a very complex layered problem. To say "We spend mega $$" yup, 100% true there is a huge amount of money being spent on indig services. However it's just not right, you can't fuck people over for 100 years, and then spend some cash (in many wrong ways) for 5-10 years, and expect everything to be right, that's just not realistic in my opinion.

Not to mention, I know a lot of the shit that goes on out in community, the COMPLETE ABUSE of remote work by professionals paid a fortune to go out and help.

Hell I know doctors paid $400,000pa, they drive all day Monday to get where they need to go, do maybe a total of 10 hours work, then drive back Thursday and that is their week.

Yup, that's a boat-load of cash, but how much help do you really think they are giving?

Fuck, I could go on and on, but the whole situation out here is fucked, and it's fucked because people like you think that all we need to do is spend money to make a problem go away, and that maybe 5 or 10 years of effort will fix everything.

No, the NT is a complex, layered, bloody interesting situation, it needs a few years of thoughtful planning by many stakeholders, and then implementation with a 30+ year timeframe.

Our society with their instant gratification and quick-fix attitude is currently incapable of properly helping.

Want to make a difference in your life? Want to make good money while doing it? Go work in the NT remote communities. If you truly want to make a difference it doesn't take any skill, just the ability to put up with shit until you learn and you can make big $$$ doing it, but I know lots and lots of very strong-willed, very intelligent people who have been completely burned out after 5 years, because their is no system, and you are swimming against a raging river.

swanny246 · 2017-02-07T03:06:04+00:00

Mirror because for some reason the original image link is 404ing.

EDIT: Hah, my first gilded comment. Thanks!

Ajaxeler · 2017-02-05T23:37:13+00:00

You should try posting this in r/darwin get some more tips.

But here is some advice from a local. May 4-11 you are going to find a lot of the roads are just not open. This is highly dependant on how late our wet season goes as well. We are having a huge wet season this year but if it stops in March you might be lucky. If there is Easter rain - not so much.

Last year we had very little rain but some annoying late rain end of May

Jim Jim & Twin will definitely not be open.

Maguk opened early last year but I think it was still closed around mid may

Gunlom open around May 10th. Great waterfall, walk to the top one of the best places to get some photos especially early morning light!

Koolpin Gorge, requires a permit. Has been opening earlier but not sure if it will be open that early. Still beautiful area highly reccomend. One of the most scenic places.

Things that will definitely be open that I reccomend.

Ubirr - rock art, epic plateau views. Sunset here is beautiful 2WD

Cahill Crossing - Just a good place to view crocs 2WD

Gubara Rock Pools - A wet season treat but may be still flowing early may 2WD

Yurmikmik - best in the wet season but Motor Car falls should still be flowing that early. Really nice swim spot. Boulder creek might be stagnet but it's a tiny 20m detour. 2WD dirt road

Nourlangie Rock - More art and a big rock. Pretty nice. 2WD

I would probably check roads and maybe cut down your Kakadu trip to three or four days. Spend some time in Litchfield National Park which is 2wd accessible, open year round and lots of great waterfalls and campsites.

I only camp and mostly back-country so I can't help you on accommodation choices sorry :( The scenic flight is a great way to see the waterfalls you can't access.

Here is the road report that is updated pretty regularly https://kakaduroadreport.wordpress.com/

If you want any other advice feel free to message me happy to help :)

concept_1234 · 2017-02-06T00:54:40+00:00

What would our response be if the organisation were different ?

More than 20 per cent of the members of The Melbourne Club - were allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, a royal commission hearing in Sydney has been told

.

More than 20 per cent of the members of Youth Workers - were allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, a royal commission hearing in Sydney has been told

.

More than 20 per cent of the members of Victorian Police - were allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, a royal commission hearing in Sydney has been told

.

More than 20 per cent of the members of Brisbane City Council - were allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, a royal commission hearing in Sydney has been told

.

More than 20 per cent of the members of Essendon Football Club - were allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, a royal commission hearing in Sydney has been told

.

More than 20 per cent of the members of Melbourne Grammar Board - were allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, a royal commission hearing in Sydney has been told

.

More than 20 per cent of the members of Telstra Board of Directors - were allegedly involved in child sexual abuse, a royal commission hearing in Sydney has been told

.

Yeah - this organisation has to go - there is no possible way it can continue.

Actionman158 · 2017-02-05T21:44:01+00:00

Do it you pussy.

-lumpinator- · 2017-02-05T00:37:21+00:00

And some morons call for a reintroduction of it. Get fucked, not in Australia.

gorillalifter47 · 2017-02-05T07:16:05+00:00

get fucked, not in Australia.

If ever there was a slogan for the anti capital punishment movement in Australia, that would be it.

stevenjd · 2017-02-04T05:03:29+00:00

Pensions should be available to those who cannot support themselves.

No, that was never the deal. The deal was that, collectively, we work and pay our taxes, and in return (among other benefits) you get some of that back in the form of a pension, so as to reduce pressure on your savings.

You're talking as if it is somehow immoral to have savings and assets that you pass on to your children. I thought that sort of Bolshy politics of envy was just a right-wing myth, a cover for their own class warefare against the working and middle classes. I never expected to see it for real in Australia.

The family home is an asset with value that can be accessed to support one's self.

No it is not. You can sell it, but then you end up with no home, and either have to buy a new one (which will probably cost you more than what you have after duty and tax) or rent. Renting means you have a worse quality of life (can't even hang a picture on the wall without asking permission) and with no income you're living off your savings.

I suppose you could bake cookies in your home and try selling them door to door to the neighbours, and live on the income from that.

The house you live in is not a disposable asset.

You can take out a regular mortgage or overdraft with the home as security, and live on credit, but with no income how are you supposed to pay it back? That's just a scam to transfer money from home-owners to the banks.

Reverse mortgages are no better: they are complex, prone to fraud, and the bottom line is that they convert an asset (the home) into a debt (the loan, which must be paid off). This is why Canada, by law, requires people to seek independent advice before taking out a reverse mortgage.

You know the secret to minimizing the amount of compound interest you pay? Paying off as much as you can as soon as you can. Do you know how reverse mortgages are designed to work? You delay paying off the debt until you're dead, accumulating as much compound interest as possible, and leaving it to your heirs to pay it off.

they are restricting the housing supply

Of course not. Selling the family home doesn't increase the housing supply. They've sold the house, what do you think happens next? They either buy a new house, or they rent. Either way, the total change to the housing supply is zero. (Perhaps a small minority might become "grey nomads", and travel the country for a few years.)

Person B doesn't care because they are getting a home when their parents die.

Lots of people care that the great Aussie dream of owning your own home is dead. And not just those who missed out. Some of us care very much that we're becoming a nation where housing is an asset owned by the rich, and rented by everyone else.

You talk about a family home worth $800,000 as if that were a lot. It's not. Thanks to the wealthy and their ability to use negative gearing, house prices are in a huge bubble, and through no fault of their own, pensioners with no income and no savings except the home may be forced into a cruel choice: sell your home, or starve.

What makes you think that there is only one heir who might inherit the house? If there are two adult children, it is highly unlikely that they will want to move into the house together, especially if they've already got somewhere to live. So they will sell the house (increasing the housing supply) or rent it (increasing the housing supply).

Yes, Person B (and C, and D, and ... ) has inherited an asset, and after they've paid off any inheritance taxes capital gains tax (if applicable) and the residual mortgage and any other debts, they might even be better off. So what? That's not a bad thing. Its especially not a bad thing at the low end of the economic scale.

For a lot of people, waiting until mum and dad pass away and you inherit their house is the only way that they're going to improve their economic situation. Until then, they're working as hard as possible to keep their head above water. Counting the family home as a disposable asset is just another way of shafting the poor.

For the mega-rich, the $20 million family home makes no difference at all: they don't pass the means test and don't get a pension whether it is counted or not. But for the middle class and working class, house prices have been so inflated (by the mega-rich) that even a single bedroom tiny apartment might be worth half a million in some areas.

Forcing them to sell their home just to survive just ensures that their kids will be paying rent to the mega-rich for the rest of their lives.

This is why the Libs want to include the family home in the pension means test. They plan long term. Never mind saving a billion or two in pensions, that's chicken feed. Its about cutting off economic advancement to the working and middle-classes, and transferring assets to the mega-rich. Not overnight, it might take 30 years, but one house at a time the middle and working classes will be selling their homes just to survive, and who will be buying them? The wealthy.

concept_1234 · 2017-02-02T23:06:48+00:00

Hey look at this One Nation surging in Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales - Trump in the white house, Brexit, conservatives taking over in almost every single European nation and a global backlash against the dithering identity politics of the left instead of working hard towards the real project of closing the wealth gap, ensuring workers rights, sustainable environment, checks and balances on corporate power ......

.......Naaaaah fuck it. Lets double down on division and the very issues which are driving massive wedges through society, destroying comity, destroying bi-partisan support, destroying any chance of actually creating a bulwark against the tsunami of right wing fanaticism sweeping the world as a desperate last hope in the face of unrelenting extremist left wing idealism.

It is just truly extraordinary how far the left has lost its vision and purpose - utterly incredible.

Literally HALF of the left wing voters in this country would walk away from the Greens for this kind of shit. Even if they TOTALLY AGREE with it - they are sick and fucking tired of these sorts of issues being the mainstay.

limit immigration, 457 visas, FIRB on foreign purchases, etc, etc -

Nope - because all these will not be addressed because of the Greens open border policies which are KILLING housing affordability, education, health, transport, infrastructure, services and causing a tsunami of domestic violence and youth crime.

Go Greens !!!

No wonder your popularity is literally falling off a cliff. What next - a parliamentary motion on gender terminology in the Senate ?!

Decryptor · 2017-02-02T06:52:14+00:00

http://m.imgur.com/V0VQchM

edit: Thankyou for gold! Very kind, i love you all! 🇦🇺

PompeiiGraffiti · 2017-02-02T03:49:09+00:00

I imagine him in a darkened room right now, a shit-eating-grin slowly creeping across his face as he reads the headline. Reaching in his desk drawer for a fresh onion, he takes a mouthful and starts to laugh like a 50cc sputtering motor, onion shrapnel spraying across the screen.

Syncblock · 2017-02-02T01:01:28+00:00

Well yeah. He paid 1.75 million dollars to get verbally abused by Donald Trump.

That's some kinky shit he's into right there.

genericname887 · 2017-02-02T04:41:52+00:00

Hold on, /r/Australia is slightly to the left of Bernie most of the time so you are really unlikely to get the full picture.

Some context: as a signatory of the UN refugee convention we have very loose laws regarding why we can turn away people claiming asylum (generally related to being able to prove a security risk). We are a relatively small nation (23 million) and Asia is obviously very populated. As such there's always been an effort to control our refugee intake, as it should be obvious that we could easily find ourselves in trouble (be it social, economic or security-based concerns). The way we've historically controlled our refugee intake is to accept them from UN camps in troubled regions.

I would take this moment to point out that our refugee intake will be 19k for 2017 and the US's (was?) going to be 110k, this works out to us taking roughly 2.5x as many per capita.

Now in about 1999 (see here), a 'loophole' rose to prominence, where if refugees arrived by means other than waiting in a refugee camp, our courts would grant them asylum (as we are a signatory). Now obviously this could be either by plane or by boat, and it is much harder for this demographic to arrive by plane. So some enterprising groups in Indonesia started to offer a service where they would ferry refugees to Australia (and we can't return them to Indonesia as they are not a signatory of the convention, among other reasons). Now this meant we were potentially no longer in control of our refugee intake and the Prime Minister at the time cracked down hard with an in-land solution where these refugees were detained. This worked for quite some time as it convinced people that arriving by boat was no longer a viable choice. Our courts ended up granting asylum to those people and arriving by boat became a viable option once more. At this time our comparatively left leaning party were in power and for whatever reason they did not have as much success dissuading the boat arrivals (from '07 to '13). Many solutions were discussed and indeed probably the best one was neglected because of partisan issues (the Malaysia Solution). Anyway the end of this was Manus Island which has stopped the boats.

I did not intend to write quite so much and it's possible a few of my details were incorrect (I seem to remember Naaru being Howard's solution?).

The key 'problems' people have with 'boat people' may be as follows:

Inability to control our border. If you look at the boat arrivals link from earlier, 2009-2013 had a truly alarming growth of refugees arriving by boat.
These boats were absolutely not safe. One of the common tactics was to get an old/unsafe boat and break down in Australian waters, subsequently claiming asylum. It gets worse as these boats were frequently overcrowded. It's safe to say the Indonesian captain/crews were... unsavory.
As the process became more refined for said crews, they began to tell people to toss out their refugee documentation as it isn't required and because of our courts being pro-refugee, not having documentation was often the most likely way to avoid being denied. It is much harder to vet someone without any documentation/history/etc and the default is to grant asylum.
While people might contest this, refugees by boat absolutely counted towards our yearly refugee intake from UNHCR camps, so they also became known as 'queue-jumpers' as they took the spot of someone in a camp.

Personally I think it's a complicated issue. While the reported conditions are deplorable in our detainment facilities and we likely need a new solution, I absolutely support measures to discourage refugee arrivals by boat.

skimitar · 2017-02-01T01:28:16+00:00

"Nice facility the CIA has at Pine Gap. Awful if something happened to it, just over a small refugee deal."

Visaerian · 2017-01-31T15:17:19+00:00

I'll correct myself to shouldn't then, as in you shouldn't be a twit and make the rest of us progressives also look like twits

mutedscreaming · 2017-01-30T23:11:30+00:00

She's entitled to an opinion provided personal belief does not impact policy decisions then I see no issue.

australia

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