Inspiring Words From an Inspiring Man

I’ll begin this post with the obligatory apology for the lack of posts recently.

The truth is I just got a promotion at work so I’m quite busy with new responsibilities. I’ve also gotten engaged! Hooray! (read more at my girlfriend’s fiancee’s blog here)

But the main reason I’m writing today is to share the sad news that one of Canada’s top politicians, Jack Layton, has passed away.

 

Jack Layton in 2008. Photo: Matt Jiggins

For my non-Canadian readers, Layton was the leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, a left-leaning political party.

Layton was charismatic, funny, and very likable. Even those who did not agree with his politics could not argue with his enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, Layton passed away last night after a battle with cancer. He did, however, leave a final note to Canadians, written just 2 days ago, when it became clear that he may not be around much longer.

The full text is available here, but I wanted to share an excerpt with all of you.

Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change…

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,
Jack Layton

It is unfortunate that people need to die before such words garner much attention, but hopefully Layton’s fight for better lives for working Canadians will not have been in vain.

 

What Do the Party Platforms Say About Science and Research?

As with every Canadian election, the primary issues are healthcare, the deficit, and the “scandal” de jour (Conservatives being in contempt of Parliament is this year’s scandal).

But what about science and research? This is an issue which gets lost in the fray of other issues, but is vital to Canadians maintaining a strong image around the world, as well as strengthening the economy.

So I went through all the party platforms in an effort to summarize their views on science, technology, and research. As a first step, I counted the number of times each of the words “science”, “technology”, and “research” each appear in the party platforms.

The results certainly jump out at you. The Green Party seems to be most interested in funding research and technology. This mainly stems from their wish to increase funding to “green” technologies, in an effort to save the environment.

The Conservatives and Liberals are pretty similar. In the Conservative Party platform, their promises regarding scientific endeavours are:

• Establish 10 additional Canada Excellence Research Chairs;
• Support the outstanding work of the Institut national d’Optique in the fields of optics and photonics;
• Invest in strengthening the Perimeter Institute’s position as a world-leading research centre for theoretical physics; and
• leverage funding to support Brain Canada’s efforts to support new diagnostics, treatments, and cures for brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s Disease.

In addition to these measures, the Conservatives discuss their “Digital Economy Strategy”, which includes (I’m summarizing here)

• Extend broadband coverage to 200,000 additional rural homes
• Increase competition in the wireless market
• Support projects between colleges and small businesses to accelerate the adoption of new technologies
• Promote enrollment in science, technology, engineering and math post-secondary programs

These points sound very well and good, but are very vague and I wonder how they would actually get implemented.

The Conservative Platform also states the Liberals and NDP “opposed” these measures when they forced this election. However I believe this is misleading, because rejecting a budget does not mean they reject every expenditure in the budget.

So what about the Liberals? What are they up to? Here are a few key points pulled from the Liberal Party platform:

–  A Liberal government will work with provinces, territories and the research community to bolster innovation in the health and bioscience field, improve the health of      Canadians, and help bring Canadian products to global markets.

– A Liberal government will make digital technologies one of its Canadian Champion Sectors, boosting incentives for investment in innovators seeking to conquer world markets.

– A new Innovation and Productivity Tax Credit (IPTC) that will grant Canadian investors a 15 percent tax credit for investments in small, early-stage start-ups that don’t yet have the track record to seek financing from more traditional sources such as banks and the stock market.

– An extension of the popular “Flow-Through Shares” tax model to start-ups in the three Canadian Champion Sectors. This tax incentive would allow venture companies with little or no revenue to pass on tax deductions to investors, creating a significant incentive to invest in Canadian entrepreneurs from promising sectors where Canada can become a world leader.

– A Liberal government will launch a new Innovation Gateway providing a “single window” approach that consolidates government support for innovation and entrepreneurship in emerging fields as well as long-standing areas of strength like aerospace, manufacturing and natural resources.

The Liberals also take advantage of the Conservative government’s poor record of investing in “green” technologies and taking action on climate change, which he once called a “socialist scheme”.

The Liberals discuss investing in cleaner technologies for processing the oil sands and reducing carbon emissions, though details on their plans are sketchy. Indeed, they state that investment in these fields will occur “as the economy improves”, which certainly allows plenty of room for interpretation on timelines for implementing these strategies.

Let’s take on the NDP next. As you can see from the above graph, the NDP does not talk about science to the extent of the Liberals and Conservatives. Part of this has to do with the fact that the NDP’s platform is quite a bit shorter than the other parties, but it also deals with the fact that the NDP’s primary concern is healthcare, job creation in all sectors, and social programs.

When they do discuss scientific issues, it deals with climate change and renewable energy. Some points from their platform (again, I’m summarizing):

• Reduce green-house gas emissions to 80 percent below that of 1990 by 2050.
• Introduce a carbon emissions cap-and-trade system
• Cut subsidies to non-renewable energy
• Federal financial incentives for “clean” energy, such as solar, wind, tidal and biomass
• Support for research of “made in Canada” green technologies
• Establish “Green Bonds” so Canadians can invest in green technologies and energy

The NDP chooses to spend their money directly helping Canadians. Which is all well and good, but I feel they don’t do enough to help bolster the economy, which is increasingly dominated by the technology industry.

Ok, now as for the Bloc. Well they hardly mention science at all, and I feel this political cartoon summarized not only their debate strategy, but their platform too, so let’s not waste any time on them.

Cartoon by Brian Gable - The Globe and Mail

Ok, so now we come to the dear Green Party. As I mentioned earlier, their platform discusses science and research more than any other party.

Of course to be fair, the Greens have exactly zero chance of winning this election (and a very slim chance of even winning a seat), so they are free to talk about how much money they want to throw at “green” technology research, without worrying about where this money is actually going to come from.

[Aside: I’ve been writing this post over about a week. It would appear that the Green Party platform I used to generate the graph at the top of the page is no longer the “official” platform. The document is now called their Vision Green and they describe it as “a comprehensive statement of our policies and programmes”. I’m not sure why they aren’t using it as their official platform anymore, but I just wanted to make that clear so you guys don’t think I’m making stuff up.]

So when the Greens talk about science and technology is pretty much always has to do with the environment and climate change. Some of the major points include:

• Retrofitting Canada’s buildings to a high level of energy efficiency by 2025
• Upgrade all low-income housing by 2025
• Provide grants to cover 50% of the cost of solar-powered roofs
• Rapid deployment of wind turbines to generate 17 GW of power (enough to power ~14 DeLorean time machines, FYI)
• All bikes and bicycle gear will be tax-deductible and GST free
• Massively increase funding to public transportation systems
• 85% reduction in vehicle emissions by 2040
• By 2017, no landfill will be able to operate without methane capture

And the list goes on. And on, and on…

All these changes will require a huge investment in researching of new technologies, assuming they ever got put in place.

These policies are well-meaning, and many of them have been implemented in other countries. But to try and get them to work in Canada, and so many of them at once, seems unfeasible.

In addition “science”, “research” and “technology”, I also made a chart searching all the party platforms for the word “homeopath”,

Indeed, as Skeptic North pointed out, the Green party would put a greater emphasis on homeopathy and other alternative medicine in our health care plans.

It makes me wonder how a party that talks a big game about using science and research to better our planet, can so greatly miss the mark on science and research in healthcare. Something to consider.

Be sure to vote on May 2. Check Elections Canada for all pertinent information.

The Science of Your Political Views

While Canadian politics could never match the emotional idiocy of American politics, I’ve seen some pretty heated discussions in the past few weeks.

The Canadian federal election is a couple of weeks away, and with the debates over and done, we are in the home stretch of campaigning.

But how much do attack-ads and party platforms really affect our decision of whom to vote for? Is it possible that our political leanings are more influenced by ‘nature’ than ‘nurture’?

An article in The Globe today discusses the neuroscience behind political viewpoints. As it turns out, the brain of a conservative works differently than that of a liberal.

Dr. David Amodio, Assistant Professor of Psychology at New York University, discussed what these differences were, and how they affect what political party we support.

According to a 2007 paper Dr. Amodio published in Nature Neuroscience:

on average, conservatives show more structured and persistent cognitive styles, whereas liberals are more responsive to informational complexity, ambiguity and novelty.

So conservatives tend to be more, shall we say, stubborn in their political viewpoints than liberals, who tend to gather more information and can be more flexible with their views.

While this may conjure up a stereotypical image of the crotchety old man, so set in his ways that he refuses to vote for anyone but the Conservatives, you should take these studies with a grain of salt.

It is only fair to point out that most of these studies are designed by liberals and may have some bias, and there are certainly many exceptions to these “rules”.

One very interesting study discussed in The Globe conducted at Princeton University:

people were shown black-and-white photographs of the faces of rival political candidates. After viewing each pair of photos for a mere half a second, they were asked which candidate looked more competent. In fact, the candidates they judged to be more competent had won their races two-thirds of the time.

This indicates that, regardless of political leanings, people tend to vote with their emotions as much, if not more, than with their brains. As much as I hate attack ads and staged photo-ops, it would seem the strategists are using science to their advantage.

So whether you identify yourself as a Liberal or a Conservative, NDP or Green, it couldn’t hurt any of us to be aware that the way our brains work can influence how we vote, and we should make an extra effort to stay informed on all the issues; instead of voting for the same party every time just out of habit.

My Favourite Blog Right Now

It is election time in Canada (again), which means a plethora of poll data is just waiting to be analyzed by journalists, pundits and, well me.

So since I like numbers and statistics, my favourite blog for the rest of the month will be TheeHundredEight.com

This site amalgamates poll data and gives a projection of the next parliament. It is also updated every day so you can obsess over stats every single morning!

Now, I know Canadian politics does not have the animosity, craziness, stupidity or entertainment value of American politics, but that is something we Canadians should be proud of; even if its less fun to watch on TV.

While this site may only be interesting to my readers who occupy the intersection of this Venn diagram:

which should be what? Like, 8 people? 12? Meh, whatever. The site also gives poll data by province and even by riding, so even if you don’t like stats you may be interested in seeing which way the wind is blowing in your area.

Since I live in Alberta, and I am a bleeding heart left-wing hippy (which is how conservatives try to paint anyone who is not conservative), my vote will pretty much be useless. But I will still vote for poops and giggles.

Actually, The Globe and Mail also has a nice summary of the party platforms on its website. It is being continually updated as well, so keep an eye on that if you want a nice summary of the different platforms.

Hurray for democracy! And statistics!

Hey Canada, Who Should You Vote For?

I know, I know. This is a science blog, not a political blog! But elections are quite important to the world of science as well and deserve attention.

Canada is headed for its 4th election in the last 7 years! It is getting a bit ridiculous, but then, so is the world of politics.

No matter what country you are from, when an election comes up people inevitably ask who you are going to vote for. The political diehards will urge you to “get informed!” and read up on the issues before making a decision.

If you are like me though, you leave this kinda stuff to the last-minute, maybe watch the debates and then vote for the same party you have the last few times. Admittedly, this is probably not the most, well, scientific way to go about things.

So if you need a bit of help deciding who you should vote for, you should try the ‘Vote Compass’ on CBC’s website.

The Vote Compass is a questionnaire of about 30 questions which ask you things like

Should Canada pull all of its troops out of Afghanistan immediately?

and then you simply answer using radio buttons for options like “Strongly Agree”, “Agree”, etc.

While certainly not rigorous, it is a good jumping off point to learn about the issues and get a sense of what political party’s views match up with your own.

My results, you ask?

My 'Vote Compass' Results

Taking into account the issues I find most important, my results (not surprisingly) put me closes to the NDP. If all issues were weighted equally, I would be closest to the Liberal party.

So in deciding who you will vote for, learn about the issues; you should also try to ignore the one thing Canadians hate most about election season. (Warning: You may only get this video if you from Canada. Enjoy!)

Listen Up America, I Have a Beef With You…

Ok America. So this is generally a science blog, but I am breaking the mold a bit today because you are pissing me off.

First, it’s the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy. Despite studies showing that the military will not care if the policy is repealed, and support from military leaders to repeal the policy, a Republican filibuster has been blocking legislation to repeal it.

Yesterday, a vote was called in the Senate. Since the Dems only have 58 seats, they needed some Republican support to get the 60 votes needed to get passed the filibuster. And what happened?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, called Thursday’s vote without an agreement with any Republican senators to support the motion, ensuring it would fail. The vote was 57-40 in favor of the cloture motion that required 60 votes to pass.

Yup, politics failed and the legislation continues to be blocked by the GOP filibuster.  The filibuster is possibly the most counter-productive parliamentary procedure I have ever heard of. While they do exist in Canada, they are usually just a carnival show and don’t last very long. But in America, with your two-party system, they seem to hold a large amount of power.

So this means that it is highly unlikely that any repeal of DADT will happen in the current congressional session, despite being totally unconstitutional, unsupported by the military and completely stupid.

You are basically telling gays that it is OK for them to dedicate their lives to training, get shipped off to God-knows-where, face fierce opposition, get shot at, watch their friends die, all in the name of protecting YOUR country and YOUR freedom and YOUR civil liberties, as long as they don’t admit that they’re gay!

These people are willing to die for America and its people, yet its people are not letting them be open about who they are? Its disgusting.

And as if that weren’t enough, what about 9/11 responders? You remember 9/11 don’t you?

Yes, after the World Trade Center (WTC) was attacked, police officers and fire fighters were called to help rescue those trapped in the buildings and the rubble and the dust. They are heroes.

Not surprisingly, many have now developed health problems due to inhalation of dust and debris experienced at Ground Zero. So wouldn’t the “American” thing to do be to help your heroes? Perhaps by treating the injuries they received by being freakin’ heroes?!?

Evidently not.

Senate Democrats failed Thursday to win a procedural vote to open debate on a bill that would provide medical benefits and compensation for emergency workers who were first on the scene of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The motion for cloture, or to begin debate, needed 60 votes to pass due to a Republican filibuster, but fell short at 57-42 in favor.

Yup, the Republican party strikes again with their crap. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement that it is

a tragic example of partisan politics trumping patriotism…I urge Senate Republicans to reconsider their wrong-headed political strategy and allow the bill to come to the floor for a vote

This happened a few days after a New York police detective died of lung cancer, caused by working in the rubble for months at Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks.

Yes that’s right. Those men and women who wear the FDNY and NYPD shirts that you revere so much, are dying. Dying because they weren’t just doing their job, because they went above and beyond the call of duty on September 11, 2001.

Lung cancer seems to be their reward.

So gays in the military don’t get the respect and rights that they deserve, and 9/11 first responders who are literal heroes don’t get the health care they deserve. All thanks to Republican filibusters.

It has been a sad week for the US of A. Politics and partisanship have gotten in the way of what is right. The system is broken.

But all is not lost yet. America, you are full of good, loyal, patriotic, and smart people. In fact, the reasonable people probably outnumber the dumb-asses by quite a large margin.

So stand up for what America holds dear. Honour your heroes by giving them the health care they deserve. Allow those who are willing to die for your protection to be able to do so without lying about who they are.

Write to your Senator. Send emails. Let them know what you think! You are the people of America, and you tell the government what to do, not the other way around!

Obama is a Democrat. Who knew?

 

While being the first Black president in history is quite an achievement, the Obama presidency has not quite lived up to the hype.

This may be about to change though. After getting a watered down version of his new health care bill passed, it seems Obama has grown himself a pair of balls.

Obama has earmarked $2 billion in loan guarantees to help give the solar energy business a kick in the ass. One of the projects would involve building the largest solar power plant in the world, and could generate 5000 jobs.

Obama needs to stick to his guns and do more stuff like this. He needs to do the things he promised he would do back during the campaign.

Sure the Republicans are gonna give you a hard time. They are loud, obnoxious, and now that they are out of power, they are maaaaad.

It can be intimidating, I know. But my god, don’t let them push you around.

And by doing the things he promised, Obama can at least get his supporters back to supporting him. So keep it up big guy. Fund more health care, fund green energy, fund the future of your country. We all know the Republicans are gonna whine and complain, but thats just what they do. Deal with it.