Sir Bandelot

But is that not part of the problem that was being addressed in Kyoto, the idea behind carbon credits? Yes it was- in Kyoto, so called developed countries have the opportunity to gain carbon credits (to offset the penalty of not meeting their carbon reduction target) if they develop carbon reducing technologies and provide them to developing nations such as India and China.

Of course we do that in medical physics, and I have been involved in many research projects. We have journals, we have posters and conferences. This is an important part of our department. I only outlined the most basic part of my job- clinical services. But research is what attracts people to this field. Naturally in our case research is related to new clinical applications, such as better definition of the tumour volume, achieving higher doses to the tumour vs healthy tissue, and better dose accuracy. Computer modeling, 3-D imaging and whats called conformal Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) are the current areas of interest. There are many other interesting things going on, like gel dosimetry. You can look these things up if you dont believe me. Check out http://www.medphys.ca, homepage of the medical physics organization. Personally I enjoy my science hobbies at home, I like astronomy and spectroscopy in particular. So in my own way I am a "propeller-head" as I like to call it. Look I dont want to brag, and it doesn't matter. Sometimes working late at night I talk to the cleaner, and he's knowledgeable about current events, more than most people I work with. Being well educated does not make me an expert in everything including immunology, no. I would not make such claims. I know what I know, through work and other experiences. I have my own biases. Arguing with people here is simply a diversion, a place to relax. And bug people a little... I never take what is said here too seriously. I see other people here getting totally pissed off about these debates. But you know who I think has a great attitude? Dog On Porch. Even though like most people I can't stand the friggin guy!

Because I thought there was a thing called "the just society", where laws applied to everyone. In that place no one could write a contract that put their employees above the law. Things like rape and forced confinement being illegal, was not just one persons moral pronouncement.

By the same token, why are you here? What qualifies you to ask me, anything at all. Snatch pebble from hand, grasshopper

Right, and you get to vote for any of the representatives they put in front of you. Vote for the one with the nicest smile... it will make you feel good! I am. Or do you mean to say, you find rape and confinement acceptable, as long as its sanctioned by your government

Fine, do that. Science is what I do for a living. Evidently you do't ned more education though, I'll grant you that one. But as to your being right, or anuthing like an expert in immunoogy, that is suspect. Despite all your apparent education and high marks, you didn't get a job in your field. Oh well, good thing theres IT.

The case is not absurd, when you realize what it demonstrates. This shows the power and influence that companies like Haliburton have over the US senate. There is no reason those senators would vote against it, other than they have been bought by Haliburton. Powerful corporations use their wealth to influence the legal system, and to put their own representatives into positions of legal power in government. We think that we have a fair and honest democracy, when what we have has decayed into fascism. Our leaders show that, at least some of them are not working in the interest of the public who they should represent. They are planted, to give certain advantages, to the profiteers. And now if anyone ever criticizes islamicists for blaming the victim in a rape case, as we have seen before, we can point to this case right here. Proof of our own moral bankruptcy.

Right Oleg. Let us revisit this topic after the flu season is over. If segnosore is right I will buy him a beer. Or cherry cooler, if he prefers

Yet you still are one somehow... your need to talk about academic achievements, as though it justifies your expertiise in anything. Your need to boast about your marks. One A was not enough, we had to hear about the other A's too. Remember, I said Grad student with IDENTITY issues

Say no more. Please

Excellent... congratulations on getting an 'A'.

No, but since you ask I work in a department of medical physics, in a cancer centre. I am an accelerator engineer. Our responsibility is to maintaining machines known as linear accelerators, which are used to create high energy radiation beams to kill cancer. We work side by side with the treatment personnel who do the laying on of the hands for patients, and our job is in planning, calibrating, preparing, testing, and in my case also troubleshooting, dismantling and repairing complex equipment. But, do not put down the janitors. We consider even the janitors as part of the team. They have to be trained to deal with the unique circumstances of hospitals, such as waste management, contamination, and disposal of hazardous medical waste, like the disposal of "sharps" (used needles). They play an important role in infection control. One should not judge others based on their occupation, level of income or how many degrees they have without having a complete understanding. In any case I've worked with some engineers and PhD's, who are so clueless it's almost frightening. Real intelligence is born, not made. I prefer not to vaccinate, so do some others. I feel its unwarranted in my case. I am in an age group where the risks are low and my own natural immunity is sufficient to protect me. And this has to do with other practices I follow in my work, which in some ways are far more important than just vaccinating. Frequent washing of the hands when coming in contact with patient areas or equipment is very important. There is a right way to do it, and its part of our training. As is avoiding situations where you might get exposed to airborn contaminants. And I think that just as one should not abuse antibiotics, the same could apply to these vaccines. We are making existing strains more virulent, by "natural" selection. Those that have the ability to survive become the next generation. If I start getting the flu more often, this could change, but until then, no thank you. Now please explain what YOU do...

IF you think theres not much money to be made in the pharmaceutical industry, you need some more education. Also, you're not really up on your current events, as recent news and discussions here centered on the issue that governments are moving towards protecting big pharma industries from litigations. That gives them a blank cheque to develop their potions, and not need to worry so much about law suits if things go wrong. The government (thus you the taxpayer) will cover the liability. Seems you like to come across like an expert, but these here comments of yours, reveal completely otherwise. My guess, is grad student with identity issues

If you have to ask that question, then you have no idea what Canada is all about. Or should I say, aboot

No kidding, Einstein. In addition to the points I listed in my post, one could also ask the question, if Italy was paying off insurgents, then how many coalition troops died because of the money they received. Maybe we don't want Italy to be in our war any more, they should take their toys and go home. On the other hand maybe Italy has got it RIGHT. They were given accolades for running a successful campaign (before this news came out) and if this is true, it demonstrates results coming from a different approach. That possibility needs to be analyzed, by people with critical thinking skills. So maybe Italy are actually a bunch of geniuses. Like you...

No way I would put their noxious potions in my body. I like the excuses they come up with for the lack of complete testing, "we need to rush this to the market before the epidemic", etc. I'm sure the big Pharma and their benefactors are just salivating at the trough. Maybe they've had a shot too many, but I'm not getting it. I've worked in health care for over 22 years, seen these hysterias come and go. I remember one large and overbearing nurse offering flu shots in the hospital basement, rage at me that I didn't want to take the juice. "They ought to not give people their paychecks unless they get the shot!" She hollered. What a nazi, I thought, and walked away. Thank goodness we're not there yet, although some political forces are working on it. Particularly the angle that parents should not be allowed to deny their children from getting a flu shot. If that happens, all our children might as well become wards of the state. Surprisingly, for all the rhetoric we hear about smaller government and less control coming from the Neocons, it is THEY who advocate these kind of ideas the most. There is some evidence that flu shots don't do any good at all. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911/brownlee-h1n1/2 "In 2004, for example, vaccine production fell behind, causing a 40 percent drop in immunization rates. Yet mortality did not rise. In addition, vaccine “mismatches” occurred in 1968 and 1997: in both years, the vaccine that had been produced in the summer protected against one set of viruses, but come winter, a different set was circulating. In effect, nobody was vaccinated. Yet death rates from all causes, including flu and the various illnesses it can exacerbate, did not budge. Sumit Majumdar, a physician and researcher at the University of Alberta, in Canada, offers another historical observation: rising rates of vaccination of the elderly over the past two decades have not coincided with a lower overall mortality rate. In 1989, only 15 percent of people over age 65 in the U.S. and Canada were vaccinated against flu. Today, more than 65 percent are immunized. Yet death rates among the elderly during flu season have increased rather than decreased. Stick that in your arm.

No one in their right mind would want that, no matter what political leanings they have. So that kind of rebuttal is sheer nonsense, a waste of space. Why even bother posting such silly propositions. Besides, even in a perfect Neocon world the prisoners WILL be released eventually. Think about how they should be released, when, and what happens to them once they're out. Thats right... exercise that mental muscle a little more... it only hurts for a while. You will eventually get used to THINKNG. ->If its for private prisons with prison labour contracted out to various companies I'm all for it. Well then, maybe you should move to the US...

I know this is bad news, but you read me wrong. Don't kill the messenger, Brutus

We are already defeated, not by the Taliban but by corruption in the Afghan government, and corruption in some of our own! French troops killed after Italy hushes up paying ‘bribes’ to Taleban In the months before the French soldiers arrived in mid-2008, the Italian secret service had been paying tens of thousands of dollars to Taleban commanders and local warlords to keep the area quiet, The Times has learnt. The clandestine payments, whose existence was hidden from the incoming French forces, were disclosed by Western military officials. US intelligence officials were flabbergasted when they found out through intercepted telephone conversations that the Italians had also been buying off militants, notably in Herat province in the far west. A number of high-ranking officers in Nato have told The Times that payments were subsequently discovered to have been made in the Sarobi area as well. Its the insidious nature of our morally bankrupt system. political intrigue and manipulations, espionage and false intelligence, that is bringing us down. The denials from Italy are coming loud and strong, but not from NATO Italy denies paying off Taliban NATO spokesman James Appathurai refused to comment on the report. The U.S. Embassy in Rome declined to comment on the Times report. ----------------------- Yet if this is true, it also says something else. Before this incident Italy was praised for having made progress in infrastructure developments and reducing violence in the regions they covered. They seem to have done this without hardly firing a shot. So the Taliban can be made to cooperate, with money. If Italy was content to do that, and they made actual progress in their assigned regions, they should be proud of their achievement, not hide it. Why can't we do that in other places as well.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Pr...3147/story.html The Harper government has ignored reams of research and conclusive evidence about prison policy in favour of slogans and pandering. They promise to get tough on crime. Problem is, crime rates have been dropping across Canada, so in order to win public support, the government has had to rely on emotion rather than facts. And the government is happy to admit it. Critics "try to pacify Canadians with statistics" Prime Minister Stephen Harper told an audience last year. "Your personal experiences and impressions are wrong, they say, crime is really not a problem." Empirical evidence should matter to policy-makers. Crime rates are one piece of evidence about what is and what is not working in the corrections system. Ignoring research and statistics is a formula for producing bad policy. Among the key recommendations the government has adopted is ending "statutory releases" after prisoners serve two-thirds of their sentences, in favour of earned parole that is tied to following a corrections plan. Instead of being supervised in the community, prisoners would serve longer and then be dumped into communities with no conditions. Ending a program that might be perceived as offering early release to prisoners may be good optics, but is it good policy? Releasing prisoners with no conditions and no support might actually make the public less safe than earlier release that comes with conditions and support. The Harper government would move the country's correctional system closer to the U.S. model, which would see more prisoners incarcerated for longer periods, thanks to mandatory minimum sentences and the elimination of gradual release. The plan would see the construction of U.S.-style super prisons. But is the U.S. really any safer as a result of its jam-packed prisons? ---------------------- It's become quite clear that Harper is a poster boy for the US based International Republican Institute. These are the people who, for whatever reason, have great disdain for scientific facts and research based evidence. They can't be reasoned with. They can only be replaced.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8255418.stm A scheme in which heroin is given to addicts in supervised clinics has led to big reductions in the use of street drugs and crime, the BBC has learned. About three-quarters of those given heroin were said to have "substantially" reduced their use of street drugs. Research suggests that between half and two-thirds of all crime in the UK is drug-related. The Home Office says on its website that about three-quarters of crack and heroin users claim they commit crime to feed their habits. Those on the programme were also given psychological support and help with their housing and social needs. There was also a big drop in the number of offences addicts admitted committing to obtain money to feed their habit. The NTA said an independent expert group, set up to advise the government, had concluded that there was enough "positive evidence of the benefits" of the programme to merit further pilots. At £15,000 per user per year, supervised heroin injecting is three times more expensive than other treatments. --- Still cheaper than jail. I approve of this approach to the drug problem. The war on drugs has done nothing to reduce usage levels and created a lot more violence, and imprisoned users whose only crime was their chemical addiction. Now don't get me wrong, if somebody commits a crime such as theft to support their habit, they should be punished according to law. I'm talking about the use of drugs itself... drug addiction. Yes they are a problem to society, yes you could say they are pathetic. But so are alcoholics. Tobacco addicts also present a burden, they pose some harm to others with second hand smoke as well as cost the health care system when they get emphysema and cancer. We do not view them as criminals, and rightly so.

The media IS the message.

Yes haven't you heard the news lately? Under Bush we had Ignorance is Bliss. Now with Obama we have War is Peace

Well done! (High-5)

So, are you his spokesman, or just a cheerleader... Good I hope you didn't take it too seriously! Oh get over it. You know I love you guys... the only real problem you have is you have no sense of humour