ReeferMadness

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. :rolleyes:

So, Tim, when science tells you something you don't like, what do you do? Say, your doctor tells you that you have cancer. Like everyone else, your doctor (and the people who develop your x-rays and process your lab samples) are biased. Maybe they're wrong. So here are your options: You keep going from doctor to doctor until you find the one in fifty who tells you that you don't have cancer and you choose to believe him or her (this is the denier approach to climate change) You go on the internet and find some 'miracle cures' (this is the 'climate engineering' approach to climate change) You wait for the current cancer paradigm to change (not sure what this is but you suggested it) You seek a second opinion to confirm. Then you go and get treatment. Brutal and nasty as it is. There's no good choices here. But that's life.

Nonsense. It's pretty hard to believe that scientists will be more intransigent in sticking to a position than an ideologue like, say, Stephen Harper.

Politics and truth don't need to be mutually exclusive. Nor, necessarily, do self-interest and politics (provided it's declared).

Sorry, but this is just so ridiculous. Yes, everyone has a bias, scientists included. However, that does not make each person's opinions equal. And it certainly shouldn't preclude scientists from entering politics. Science has built in checks and balances to allow for bias. That's the entire basis of the scientific method (make things as objective as possible) and it's why they have something called peer review. Now, that doesn't prevent bias from creeping in. There is bad science just as there are bad haircuts. But I'm going to keep on going to my barber to get my haircut, I'm going to keep on listening to the weatherman for weather forecasts and I'm going to keep on paying attention to science when it comes to understanding the world.

In case not everyone has picked up on it, what Tim is saying is that it's OK to ignore scientific findings where such findings might happen to be counter to one's own interest. Climate science for instance. Those climate scientists, being human, clearly have their own biases and so it's perfectly OK for Tim to listen to someone who tells him something more to his liking. His florist, for example, or maybe his plumber.

You're absolutely right - what was I thinking? There are lots of people who benefit. - The corrupt politicians and military who are in bed with the arms dealers - The generals who go on to have political careers (am I double-counting?) - Profiteers who know how to make a "killing" off people's misery but don't sell weapons - Big corporations who come in after the war is over and rebuild (maybe double counting again) And, my personal, favourite, the #1 group of people who benefit from war - the 5% of soldiers who are aggressive psychopaths and kill for the sheer joy of it. Who are we to deprive psychopaths of their life's joy?

Aww. We weren't shoveling enough dollars into the maw of your military-industrial complex? That's a shame. Your commie-fighters like Joseph McCarthy were so inspiring - I feel really bad that we didn't waste a whole bunch more money. I guess we can make up for it now but flushing money down the F35 toilet.

Exactly.

If I could be assured that the arms would be used purely for defensive purposes, I would be fine spending whatever we needed. That's not what is happening. Nobody wins a war except for the people who sell arms.

Maybe. I think that, bizarre as it may seem, Ford Nation doesn't see Rob as a member of the rich and powerful. He's such a doorknob, it's easy to forget how rich his daddy made him. These people see Rob as one of them. They resent what they see as the fat cats at City Hall and Rob is their hero who is going to go and take the fat cats down a notch.

You can have whatever you want. What you can't do is hide the hypocrisy of a bunch of nuclear armed countries trying to prevent the rest of the world from getting the same. Do you know how I knew that Iraq didn't have nuclear weapons? I knew it when the US and UK invaded them. If Saddam had nukes and a reasonable delivery system, they never would have touched him. That lesson has not been lost on the surrounding countries. You want non-proliferation? Great, me too. The place to start is for the existing nuclear powers to start getting rid of theirs. Then you can get all high and mighty about Iran or anywhere else.

And as for Xbox vs Playstation, I'll take the one that is marketed honestly. Oh, that's neither. Never mind, then.

Sorry to depress you. There are two courts in play. The RCMP are busy investigating Wright. If you want to know what Harper is guilty of, read up on what they are pursuing. But the court that really matters is the court of public opinion. After first staking out the high road by proclaiming he wouldn't be appointing unelected senators, he then turns around and appoints a camp-follower like Duffy. So when Duffy's caught with his snout deep in the same trough that so enraged Harper's loyal base about the Liberals, the bright lights in the Con Party start to worry about the brand. So Harper stuffs Wright under the bus (then throws him under a few more times for good measure, trashing his reputation beyond repair) and desperately starts to spout transparent lies. If I worked in the PMO, I'd wonder if I was being groomed for bus fodder.

What makes you say that?

So, Harper is claiming that he thought Wright was asking for permission to allow Duffy to repay his expenses out of his own pocket. I have to admit I'm curious. Even among the ardent Harperites, can anybody be dumb enough to believe this?

Now, everyone is a comedian. The problem is the comedians can't match the shock value of the original. Ford is comedian-proof.

I'm not sure whether I disagree or just don't follow. As I understand the situation, many (most?) Rob Ford supporters are poorly educated, disaffected and lower-income. These people are not elitist by any measure. Instead, they are so distrustful and cynical about the normal centres of power (and the over-achievers who normally inhabit them) that Ford's bizarre behaviour just reinforces their already deeply held cynical beliefs. Ford is the outsider who is sticking it to the man, poking his finger in the eyes of the elite. The more the Toronto Star digs up dirt, the more he will become their guy.

I get the difference between conservative and Conservative. However, most people who self-identify as conservatives will vote for Conservatives whether or not they bear more than a passing resemblance. Regarding scientists and politics, I don't see why they should be any less likely or any less welcome in the realm of politics than anyone else. In fact, I would respect their opinions more because they will be more inclined than the general population to separate personal biases from objective conclusions. Which is why (in my opinion), the thinking people (or scientists) are less likely to self-identify as conservative. Because they see what happens when people vote Conservative.

So you think that your belief in the presumption of innocence and the scientific method make you a conservative? I guess that makes about as much sense as my fondness for blueberry yogurt and my favorite color being blue makes me a rocket scientist. You invoke science in your self-definition of conservative yet the Conservative Government is no friend of science. Just as most scientists are not conservatives.

We're watching on Netflix, in season 2. Everyone is telling me it's so great, I'm hanging in but frankly I have to say that the plot seems kind of cheesy. Does it get better or is this just a case of me not liking what everyone else likes?

Cause he's Rob F-ing Ford. Hero of the little people. The crazier he is, the more the great unwashed love him.

He can't say a trillion. That would be dishonest.

Funny, that. That is one of the problems with firearms. They seem to be always around when you don't want them. I'm sure the NRA could train kids to draw on and shoot bad parents.

Oh, yes. There's the problem - America doesn't have enough guns.