ReeferMadness

And: Solar is cheaper than nuclear.

It's totally undemocratic. And the sad thing is even with parties calling for democratic reform, I think the prospects of it changing are slim. There are more ways that PR couldn't happen than ways it could. There are so many political insiders that have too much invested in the status quo. And if the comments made by people around here are any indication, democracy is simply not a big priority for people.

Yet. Unless radiation exposure is severe, the effects can take years or decades to show up. Nobody will ever know how many people die from Fukushima. But that wasn't the question. You claimed that nuclear power was cheap. Here is a plant that cost billions and will cost 10 of billions to clean up over the next 30-40 years. And it's now producing nothing. Citation please. That's patent nonsense. There are so many GMO's out there already, it would be impossible for any government to ban them and certainly not Canada. The Green Party is just trying to put some basic controls in place. Now there is a statement of breathtaking simple mindedness. When your doctor prescribes medication, she doesn't know what it will do to you. Maybe it will have the intended benefit. Maybe it will do nothing. Or maybe it will have one of the multiple side effects, up to and including death. Modern medicine studies the effects of substances on populations and then tries to choose the ones that have more positive effects than negative ones. But there are inherent problems. These studies are enormously expensive and it's very difficult to prevent bias from sneaking in. And most studies are funded by the pharmaceutical companies that have an enormous stake in the outcome so there is a huge incentive for a positive result. The amount of money to conduct the studies virtually guarantees that simple, cheap remedies that can't be patented won't be studied at all; unless governments or universities conduct the studies. But governments and universities are increasingly cash strapped. So, I understand why people turn to alternative therapies. And if there is a demand, I think we need to be flexible in our approach. If you want to debate the pros and cons of alternative therapies, it's too big a topic to be contained here. Open a separate thread and I'll be happy to debate that. But there are a lot of people out there who subscribe to the therapies that you dismiss as quackery. In a democratic country, it's right that people should be able to have representatives that believe in things that you don'. So, you're not sure what their platform is but you're convinced it's wrong? If that's the case, they're not doing their jobs very well. In Western Europe, only a tiny fraction of the people drink fluoridated water. In Canada, fluoridation is prevalent in Ontario and Alberta but almost non-existent in BC and Quebec. If there is a substantial benefit to fluoridation, it should be simple to demonstrate. I've done a fair bit of reading on this and I oppose fluoridation on the following grounds: 1. The practice of fluoridation essentially amounts to medicating people whether they want it or not. This is contrary to the medical principle of informed consent. If the medical benefits were huge with respect to the risks, this might be defensible; but they are not. 2. Fluoride is a toxic substance and some studies in higher doses will cause health problems (up to and including death). I would say that there is no proof at this point that the levels in drinking water are harmful but it's entirely possible that we will find out at some point that it is. 4. When you put a substance in drinking water, you lose control of the dosage. 5. The health benefits of fluoride are when it is applied to the surface of the teeth. We shouldn't be ingesting it. 6. The articles that I've seen claim the efficacy of fluoride to be all over the map from slight to huge. It seems to me that good dental care is preferable to mass medication. The bottom line here is that there are a lot of Canadians that share these views. They deserve representation in parliament.

I don't blame you. I just think it's too bad we don't have a voting system that allows you to vote your choice.

Windows 10 is a privacy nightmare if you leave the default settings on. The user agreement spans 45 pages and gives Microsoft a ridiculous amount of access to and control of your personal data. There is lots of online information about how to fix these issues including this video.

I agree with that. The NDP brought more value when they stuck with their principles and didn't try to water down their ideas hoping to win the election. That's now up to the Greens.

This is a dumb piece of legislation. I agree with balanced budgets in general but that is a political decision. We need more democracy. Real democracy, not tying governments hands through legislation.

Copy that.

Yes, of course. But talk to die-hard NDPers about the Green Party. They often describe us as neo-conservatives with composters. Some of the most negative things that are said about the Green Party come from NDP supporters, in my experience. :rolleyes:

If I ignore my bills, I'm in great financial shape.

Yeesh. Really? I'd sooner have Billy Bob who drives the ice cream truck.

Really? This type of pedantic cherry-picking is exactly why I'm inclined to ignore you. You want to read the REST of the Wikipedia article instead of just the criticisms? Here: Your own link actually explicitly supports the application of the precautionary principle in the case of GMO's. You just read the little piece you wanted to see.

And where else are they going to go? They'll be in exactly the same spot as Harper's social conservatives or, for that matter, conservatives who actually believed Harper was going to clean up Ottawa. They'll be disappointed and a few might elect to not vote but the overwhelming majority will grumble but stay the course.

I think that with PR, Green support would easily be somewhere between 6 and 10%. Strategic voting is keeping it artificially low.

I don't envy your choice. I decided against strategic voting long ago but I could see making an exception to get rid of Harper.

Hyperbole. Everyone will be watching for that and Mulcair won't deliver it.

The GMO stance is not entirely unreasonable and it contains some things I like such as the precautionary principle and a rule against owning life. Perhaps it goes a bit far. I'm not sure what you mean about alternative medicine. It can mean a lot of things and lots of people use things that could be categorized as alternative medicine. Including, recently, Mr Hockey. As for fluoride, I never really though much about it before. My main exposure to information on fluoridation came in elementary school approximately 800 years ago. But after some preliminary review of what's readily available on the internet, I'm inclined to agree with the Green Party. We can take it up on a separate thread, if you're so inclined.

It's these sort of hyperbolic posts that cause me to start to ignore people.

I don't know why - I'm just interpreting the verbiage contained in your post. As I said, it's farther than I would go but this isn't going to change my vote.

Maybe they go a bit far but this isn't going to change my vote. Most of the points mentioned are really based on the precautionary principle, a principle that should be followed more closely, IMO. The outright ban was on Agriculture Canada, not across the board. They also oppose technologies that allow companies to "own" GMO's and I support that.

Doubt it. NDP has a core of true believers, much like the Conservatives.

The unelected hacks sit in the PMO and the numbers have grown steadily since the PMO first came into being. Without PR. What makes you think the situation will be worse under PR?

Observation?

Wow, nuclear power is cheap now. Go ask the guys in Fukushima about that. I don't think the Green Party is against GMO's per se, they are in favour of labeling. You don't have a problem with people having choice do you?

Well, OK, I'm not an expert in tornadoes. But I do know how to do a bit of basic research. Link Link Link And, as I said earlier, tornadoes and hurricanes are not the only extreme weather people need to worry about.