Chuck U. Farlie

While not all of my following examples will be at the federal level, they are still funded from our taxes: eHealth, adscam, human rights commissions Also, nevermind that I have worked for the gov't before - Ministry of Transportation here in Ontario - in the regional office in North Bay to be precise, and I have seen the gross waste that are (many, not all) public servants. Their positions accomplished little of anything - just bureaucratic procedures to take up time. I have friends that have/are mayors or councilors in small towns in Ontario. I've seen and heard how they have wasted countless tax payer dollars on frivolous and useless expenditures. Take a look at Toronto City Council if you want an example of waste. One of these same friends is now working for the Toronto and area Conservation Authority... and the wasted money they toss around is unbelievable too. He is the first to admit that they must spend all of the money that is budgeted to them, even if unwisely spent, or they won't get an increase the following year. How about all this money that was given/ is going to be given to GM and Chrysler? They are sure spending a lot of money to save a small number of jobs... they would have been better off to give the employees the money directly, or to provide incentives for the rest of us to buy new cars....

Since you asked: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/fp/C...6221/story.html And its a bonus that Alberta is adding full-time jobs to replace part-time. I don't have a source at the moment, but I have read that Ontario's only job gains are all part-time.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nation...article1169906/ It seems to me that 6.6% is much lower than 9.4%, and $4.7 billion is much lower than $18 billion. The past balanced budgets are irrelevant because they were in times of prosperity - and not the worst recession since the '30s.

I guess the creationists (like Sharkman and Betsy) would rather read the creationist propaganda sites to find out what scientists truly believe... here is an article from the NY Times regarding this very same discovery: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/science/14rna.html?_r=2

Over in the Federal thread a lot of 'lefties' are taking shots at the Conservative's numbers... citing the massive job losses and massive deficit. I wonder though if it wouldn't be much worse if the Liberals were in charge? Just take a look at Ontario, for example, under Liberal leadership: Ontario Job Losses Worst in Canada: Ontario to Break Deficit Record: It seems to me that while the federal Conservatives are getting us into a royal mess that is going to take years to recover from, don't presume for one second that we would be any better off with a Liberal Government. If they are anything like their Ontario Liberal cousins we would be much worse off.

I don't think any one is suggesting that we should not pay any tax at all, but I think it is justified to complain when our taxes are grossly wasted and/or managed inefficiently. Our taxes could be significantly lower if the money was properly managed.

I agree with Borg here... Give cornwall island to the natives - they can call it their own nation. Since they will no longer be part of Canada, cut off all of their funding and make them get passports and visas if they ever want to visit Canada. Lets see how long they last.

Indonesia is not too bad to live in... as long as you have more money than the local people (not very hard to accomplish). Malaysia also isn't too bad either.

You keep on bringing up this Crick fella, so I decided to see who he is and what he said. This is from wikipedia: So... this one guy makes a speculation (not a theory, not a hypothesis, but mere speculation) back in the early 70's, which he later retracted. Do you have any better examples of these 'crackpot' scientists? This one was a bit weak.

You're correct. You can get an enhanced licence that is $40 extra.

RE That guy fits an unbelievable amount of information in a 10 minute clip!

I think it is a big deal for the border town people who normally wouldn't get a passport because they don't go anywhere else. They are also worried business will suffer because border town Americans might not get a passport to come to our casinos, sporting events, or whatever... It will also affect those in Canada with permanent residence... now they will likely need a visa (depending on where they come from) along with their home passport - before they might have got away with just a driver's license. I personally don't care, because I always keep a valid passport - I need to keep my options open in case I ever commit a serious offense! ;-)

I wouldn't say that 'mock' is the right word. 'Question' would be a better word... and science welcomes and thrives on questions. If someone can prove something wrong about a currently accepted scientific theory, scientists are happy because it furthers our knowledge and understanding. The same cannot be said about religion.

Here is another great video linking ID with creationism as well as the Discovery Institute - and outing a journal which was created and edited by creationists in order to try to give some of their arguments clout - some of those names sound familiar betsy... http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/05...asey_luskin.php

Fair enough - if true. I think many scientists would say things like "It is possible that... (insert hypothesis here)". I have never read anything that claimed with absolute conviction that the earth was seeded by alien life or by a bolt of lighting. Anyway, why do you (or anyone else) need to believe in any of these things or what other people believe? What is wrong with saying 'I don't know'? I don't know how life started. I don't know how the universe came to be. And I certainly don't know what, if anything, will happen after death - and I don't care either. All those things are irrelevant and don't change how I am going to live my life now. What is relevant is the science that can improve our lives today - and one of those sciences that help to improve our life is the study of evolution - especially when it comes to understanding how bacteria and viruses operate, and in understanding genetics.

9 to 0 for evolution... should I pull a Betsy and declare victory?

So are you saying, sharkman, that it is better to believe in some imaginary god in the sky that magically created everything than to slowly explain what we can through observation and experimentation - and for everything else say "We don't know - yet"? Rational people have no problem saying that everything is not understood - and at least rational people use reasonable means to find out what we don't yet know - unlike those that have endless faith in holy texts. I would love to believe in fairy tales, but I am afraid I am not that delusional.

No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says; he is always convinced that it says what he means. (Shaw)

It sounds to me like you believe in evolution that is controlled by the hand of God. That still sounds like evolution to me... I didn't ask if the change was by accident or controlled.

Agreed

We should ban European hockey players... that way someone might be able to beat Detroit!

Since the other thread on this subject didn't include a poll, I decided to create one just to see how many people on this board believe one choice or the other. Note: Please don't confuse the question, this is not about the origin of the universe, and this is not about the origin of life (abiogenesis). So... evolution or creation?

nevermind... tired of beating a dead horse

Are you so sure about that? A quick google search - while ignoring both the creationist sites (such as www.answersingenesis.org) and the evolutionist sites (talkorigin) - I still managed to find a lot of links that say that bacterial resistance is a perfect example of evolution. Here is a PBS reference: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/10/4/l_104_03.html

Maybe it is because I grew up working in the construction industry - which was very seasonal (i.e. outdoor concrete, landscaping, pool builders, home builders, etc). Almost everyone I knew in that industry would work the hours they needed, asked to be laid off, work the rest of the season for cash (while on EI), and then have a lazy winter. I still know a lot of guys that live in SE Asia for the winter and come here every April or May to start the process again. EI is now direct deposited and the cards can be filled out online...

Getting EI after 360 hours? Don't you think that is a bit low? It's only 9 weeks of work to get a year of paid vacation?! Sign me up! Even with the current system - which doesn't pay if you quit - it is very simple to work around. You go to your boss when you want to quit and say: "I want to leave, but I want you to put on the ROE that I am laid off, okay?"... so simple, and piles of people do it. Anyway, I think if an election is called over EI, people will be pissed off that an election is called over that. Remember that 92% of people are still working and don't want EI rates to go up. Back to the topic at hand... I think the ads will at least cause people to find out more about Iggy... and most will assume that they must be true or they would be pulled off for being libelous. For me it doesn't change anything - I will never again vote Liberal anyway.