Friday 22 March 2013

Science: The Tipping Point?

Warawa's Wank, aka M408, or the Motion to Pretend Conservatives Give a Shit about Women, is a classic political gotcha.

Frame an anodyne sentiment in such a way as to make it difficult to oppose. When critics try to expose it for the sham it is, the trap is sprung!

'Gotcha! You support discrimination against females! You are in favour of sex-selective abortion! SHRIEEEK!'

Cue up the video editing machine and commence production of attack ads.

So as this pig-ignorant government muzzles scientists, shuts down world-renowned research facilities, and just generally behaves like illiterate vandals, we thought a science-related gotcha! from the Fucking Useless Opposition® would be fun.

Look! The FUO put their pointy little heads together and came up with one all on their own. This past Wednesday, Kennedy Stewart (NDP, Burnaby-Douglas) put forward this modest proposal.
That, in the opinion of the House: (a) public science, basic research and the free and open exchange of scientific information are essential to evidence-based policy-making; (b) federal government scientists must be enabled to discuss openly their findings with their colleagues and the public; and (c) the federal government should maintain support for its basic scientific capacity across Canada, including immediately extending funding, until a new operator is found, to the world-renowned Experimental Lakes Area Research Facility to pursue its unique research program.
Basically: a) science good, b) communication good, and c) please, pretty please throw a little interim dough at ELA.

The facty-sciency version of mom's apple pie, yes? Who would vote against that?



Every single one of the blockheads running this country including creationist chiropractor and Minister of (Destroying) Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear, and former bingo-caller and Minister of (Destroying) the Environment, Peter Kent, voted against it. And the Prime Sinister himself, of course.

Doesn't your maple-leaf imprinted heart swell with patriotic pride?

I keep whinging asking: Where is the goddam tipping point? When will people wake up to the fact that, in the words of co-blogger deBeauxOs, 'Toxic Harper killing everything that is Canadian?

Is this it? Dunno, but here are some relatively new initiatives that look like a good beginning: Unmuzzled Science, Evidence for Democracy, Science Uncensored and Death of Evidence.

Check them out. Get involved.

Pretty please?


1 comment:

Niles said...

Tipping point? They're counting on the idea most of this country would rather be out tipping cows when they're not bewailing how we're all going to die in the dark if we don't get new pipelines.

Just to add insult to injury, that bastion of reason, the National Post, today devoted front page above-the-fold-space in their print edition to breathless hyper skepticism for several column inches about a philosopher who decided evolution doesn't work NEVERMIND what biology has to say about it.

It is a pro-ridiculousness piece, full of religious creationist buzz words(Darwinism?? That term is almost exclusively used by creationists. Darwin's work has been built upon for lo, these many decades) and poohpoohing of the vast body of mainstream science that has roundly punted the philosopher's unevidenced assertion.
Apparently Nagel is a 'true' thinker and those ratty scientists are stuffily ideological priests eeeyah. The puff piece even manages to takes swipes at the difficulties climate change deniers are facing.

Seeing the headline, I picked the paper up thinking something important must have been announced for something like evolution to be on the front page. OI and BLODDY VEY. I couldn't believe it was getting the primo spot. Has the NP just given up and is tithing to McVeety et al now?

My brain has dents from head desking. We used to be one of the top ten countries once. We thought science was kewl. Now, facts are just inconveniences to people that want to sell us stuff and have our obedient compliance.

Thomas Nagel Fluffing by the National Post

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