Comments by Bonzai

Comment #276162 by Bonzai on November 1, 2008 at 1:04 pm

Frankus

Just went to your link. The second comment is just as hilarious/scary. The author, without a hint of irony, compared Obama's widespread support to the ignorant mob's "faith for the awaited one" in the Muslim world. In contrast, Joe the plumber was hailed as the hero for "American value". He could be right about Joe since "American value" appears to mean stupidity for those who passionately support McCain.

The other day a McCain strategist told a journalist the media would be in for a big surprise on Nov5, McCain will win because, in his words, many "uneducated working Americans" will come out to vote McCain on election night. The point needs to be highlighted and underscored: McCain wll win because of support of the ignoramuses and he intends to ride the wave of stupidity to the Presidency.

552. Surprise: Scientists for Obama

Comment #276151 by Bonzai on November 1, 2008 at 12:16 pm

Arnold schwarzenegger was campaigning for McCain in Ohio yesterday and drawn a large, enthusiastic crowd.

His speech contained good soundbites like "Senator McCain is the genuine "real action hero"" that brought thunderous applause from the crowd. According to pundits this level of energy and ethusiasm has not been seen in a McCain rally for a long time.

I doubt that Nobel laureates have even a tiny fraction of the star power.

The sad thing is, many Americans seem to have difficulty telling reality apart from movies,--fantasies.

553. A slow but certain demise

Comment #276145 by Bonzai on November 1, 2008 at 12:03 pm

EB

I tend to agree with you on this if you are talking about Canada or Europe. But I am begining to think that CD is probably correct regarding the U.S.

Topics such as abortion, evolution, gay right, sex education and birth control are beyond debate in most Western countries, but in a large swath of the U.S. they are still intensely controversial. I don't remember the actual numbers, but from what I can recall the actual, hard core Christian fundamentalists are actually not a very sizable minority. If they are able to exert such a level of influence in public debate it would show that there are many people, though not card carrying evangelicals themselves, nevertheless are sympathetic to or can be swayed by the fundamentalists on a variety of issues.

The U.S. has a very different culture which sets it apart from the other developed nations. The norm probably doesn't apply there. For one thing, the U.S. is unique among the industrialized nations that an open declaration of faith in Jesus is almost a prerequisite for high public office and being a creationist may be an advantage, whereas in other Western nations, an over the top display of religiosity would instantly disqualifies a candidate. Remember Stockwell Day?

EDIT: It is only in the U.S. that someone like Sarah Palin would be taken seriously in a vice Presidential race. Elsewhere she would have been laughed off the stage before the race even started. The U.S. is "special".

554. Surprise: Scientists for Obama

Comment #276125 by Bonzai on November 1, 2008 at 11:16 am

The perversity is that this may actually help McCain because of the deep seated anti-intellectualism in the red states. The bible thumping crowd view scientists with suspicions. To these people scientists epitomize the godless, "urban liberal elite".

555. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #275762 by Bonzai on October 31, 2008 at 2:43 pm

R2Sq

Just make sure you tell your rednecks to point the gun at the enemy.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/051408dnmetitch.f81a31c3.html

This guy definitely should get the Darwin award.

556. Teaching hate in UK schools

Comment #275460 by Bonzai on October 31, 2008 at 7:57 am

Why is this video being posted now? I remember watching it live on Newsnight in February 2007. Are there any new developments on the story?

The academy hasn't been closed down, there is no condemnation from politicans, faith schools are still being funded and defended, so no, there is no new development and that is worth highlighting.

557. Why We Believe

Comment #275452 by Bonzai on October 31, 2008 at 7:47 am

Watts

mho OR is often used incorrectly in the Social Sciences, where the phrase "for every event there is a simple explanation, and it's wrong." is probably a better guide. OR works well for relatively simple phenomena in Physics and Chemistry. The complexity of humans and human groups is different. "Alcoholism is caused by a genetic defect" is a simpler hypothesis than "Alcoholism in a biopsychosocial disorder with multiple contributory factors." but imho that makes it less, not more likely to be the correct one.

No, I am afraid you misunderstand. OR means "all else being equal" pick the simplest explanation. In the social sciences, single factor explanations and multiple factor ones are not equal, models involving multiple factors usually fit the data a lot better.

558. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275446 by Bonzai on October 31, 2008 at 7:39 am

Zero

Flat tax is a good way to either bankrupt the government (if the tax rate is low enough for the average worker) or it would bankrupt the average worker (if it is high enough to fund the expenses of the government). It is a no brainer. That's why all civilized countries use progressive taxation.

It is not how much you pay in taxes, but how much you keep. Assuming the simple model that you only care about money, it would be way ahead to make 250K and pay 50K in taxes than make 40K and pay 0 taxes.

559. Teaching hate in UK schools

Comment #275429 by Bonzai on October 31, 2008 at 7:16 am

So what is the U.K government going to do? More hand wrangling it seems. Faith schools will still be funded and Islam would still be called the religion of peace.

560. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275413 by Bonzai on October 31, 2008 at 6:53 am

Flat tax is insanity.

561. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #275412 by Bonzai on October 31, 2008 at 6:51 am

Frankus

That is why I voted for the Green party up here.
I was fairly certain that the Conservatives would not be elected in my riding. It was a toss up between the Liberals and the NDP (lefty New Democratic Party)

If the conservative would not get elected in your riding go ahead and vote Green. But Sarmatae seems to be perfectly willing to see McCain win just so that he can make a point about his dissastisfaction. That is insanity.

562. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #275203 by Bonzai on October 31, 2008 at 12:17 am

Samatae

Comparing yourself to John Quincy Adams, lol A little pretentious but I like it.

John who? As the saying goes, a living mouse is better than a dead lion. I am alive (obviously) and JQ is presumably dead. :)

You think that a two party system is adequate to represent over 300,000,000 poeple?

You need a lot more work to get to a point where you can have a genuine electoral reform. Spoiling ballots/voting third party during an all important presidential race to split votes is not the way to bring in electoral reform. It is a long term process that have to start locally, one step at a time.

In the 2000 election, Noam Chomsky endorsed Nader and the Greens for the same reasons you cited. By 2004, he argued that progessives and leftists should hold their noses to vote Kerry in states where the race was close. Chomsky's point was basically that while in the big picture the two parties are not that different, but the small picture still matters for the people who are affected here and now. It took him four years of Bush to figure that out. But you do have the benefit of hindsight by now.

The damages that a McCain administration can do are very real, some would have very long term effects like the upcoming supreme court appointments.

Is a third party going to be elected this time. I don't think so. But I predict that a record number of third party voters will turn out

It would be a disaster if the voters who want change do as you wish and McCain-Palin manage to win as a result. At least the Christian right, the racists and market fundamentalists like DP get what they wish for. What do you get out of it except smug satisfaction?

Edited for clarity and stylistic improvement

563. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #275196 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 11:34 pm

righton

I think this is BS. This election has inspired a lot of people to vote who don't usually vote, especially black americans and young people, I can't imagine any of them voting for the very old Mccain who is a republican like Bush. Not that I think Mccain is like Bush but I think that is how a lot of young people think.

I hope the young people do show up to vote.

Today I read that a McCain stragetist said they are counting on votes from the "unducated working class" in some Southern states. "Uneducated" was his exact word. In other words they even admit that they are courting redneck votes, exploiting these people's ignorance and pandering to their prejudice and religiousity. McCain deserves to lose just because of how low he has stooped to in this campaign.

564. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #275192 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 11:27 pm

Sarmatae

Could you find a quote from someone that advocates voting for the lesser of two evils?

He can quote me. A vote for third party, especially where the race is close, is probably a vote for the nutjobs.

Principle is great, but it is not so much principle that you are championing. It is grandstanding, it is grandstanding like those morons who spoil their ballots to make a point,-- Sorry, if you don't vote you have no say and these people deserve to get whatever shit for their government.

You serve your principle by seeking the optimal outcome under existing constraints, not by shooting yourself on the foot just to make a point. Principle worths nothing if it exists only in your head.

565. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275186 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 11:09 pm

1) Have those programs ever gotten smaller or does the cost to tax payers keep increasing?

Why would the programs get smaller when the population is getting bigger and older?

The question is not how much it costs tax payers, but whether the costs are justified in terms of the goal it seeks to achieve. FYI the tax payers are the citizens. They use the health care system themselves. You sound as though they are paying for someone else's expenses.

In Canada no politician would get elected if they try to dismantle our public health care system. It is something that Canadians are proud of and are willing to pay for.

According all international ranking we have better health outcome and our system costs much less than yours(BTW, the biggest increase in health costs are drug costs thanks to extended patent laws and those parts which are private)

2) How long do you have to wait for a medical procedure compared to here in the great USA?

How many Americans don't have any coverage? How many Americans only have partial coverage? How many Americans find it difficult to get coverage because private insurance companies discriminate against the old and the sick?

You may have shorter waiting time for those who can afford it, but what about those who can't?

It is better to wait longer in line for elective surgeries than not even being able to join the line at all.

3 How long does it take to see a doctor period?

It took me half an hour last time.

As for costs, our system costs a lot less as a percentage of GDP than yours.

Even American companies are complaining health insurance for their employees is a major expense for business.This is reported in magazines such as the Wall Street journal, it is not some leftist propaganda. Since you argue so hard that even a small increase in taxes would hurt profit and cost jobs, why aren't you complaining about ballooning health care costs for American employers?

566. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275170 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 10:11 pm

Thats because of universal health care

And why would that be a bad thing?

I don't know if they work less harder but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

But the U.S. ranks much lower on health outcome comparing to Western Europe and Canada and it costs a lot more. If their doctors are working less hard that means their systems are more efficient.

Why do you think people should be rewarded for inefficiency?

567. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275164 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 10:02 pm

The guy can't make the distinction between himself, who deals in frightful numbers all day, and a doctor (which happens to be a profession in high demand) who happens to have schooling costs and insurance costs that he (bonzai) probably couldn't imagine dealing with. How is it that hard work offsets the equally hard work done by someone who also happens to be in a high risk industry?

Doctors in Canda and Europe don't make the equivalent of 250K. Why is that? Is that because they work less hard, and take less risk?

Speaking of risk I don't know what is the fatality rate of doctors comparing to coal miners and construction workers. Maybe you can some stats with us.

The pay of doctors is vastly inflated because of the way they control the supply end. We have many qualified immigrant doctors driving taxi here. You don't even have to be that smart to be a GP.

In the U.S. medicine is a business, you cater to those who can pay for expensive procedures. Based on health statistics the U.S. is not doing particularly well. So get off your high horse and admit that pay scale is mostly artificial.

568. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275156 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 9:42 pm

Kmita

Again the same question. What the hell does it have to do with hard work?

Your whole case in justifying some people making an obscene amount of money comparing to others based on their "hard work" to get where they are breaks down, in case you have problem seeing that.

569. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275153 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 9:39 pm

Maybe there is no one willing to pay you 250K for what you do or you work in a field that is over flooded. What you need to do is get rid of other research mathematicans so that you can ask for a higher salary. Imagine if you were the only one of those available, you can ask for millions.

So what the hell does it have to do with hard work?

570. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #275150 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 9:37 pm

MaxD

Bonzai, will that be your costume?

No, I won't dress up like Mitchell's cute girls. Even though I am good looking, but that is out of my league.

571. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275148 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 9:34 pm

Kmita

You're disregarding the fact that businessmen have spent many years acquiring a highly specialized set of skills, as opposed to the skills of a construction worker which are taught in short manner.

Yeah right, gime a break. I spent many years acquiring a highly specialized skill as a research mathematican, and my peers spent many years to get their Ph.D's in the hard sciences. None of us make 250K, not even close.

572. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #275132 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 8:47 pm

MaxD

decius
Your avatar looks vaguely like a demented Lee Marvin.

Anyone dressing up as a paedophile priest for Halloween?

573. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275131 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 8:41 pm

g8hands

That is true only because of the huge salaries of those on the top (compared with everyone else).

In the U.S.A the CEO makes about 300-400 times as much as the average worker. In Japan the ratio is about 50 to 1. Wonder why it costs the company so much.

574. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275125 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 8:32 pm

Kmita

I'm not an economy major, but I have had several business classes nonetheless. However, my opinion does echo that of people I trust who are economic experts.

We probably won't be in such a mess right now if it weren't for those economics experts you trust.

. Second off, I could not be more displeased with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (fucking California) for being an idiot. My take at this point: a revised bill will come up to vote in a few days...if that also doesn't pass, then people are gonna get fucked hard

This is a very partisian take on it.

Let's accept the GOP's narrative for a moment. Your friend blamed Nacy Pelosi for using the occasion to attack the Republicans, but not the Republicans who basically threw a temper tantrum because of their egos instead of acting responsibly and do what they thought was right, as a result, according your friend, the people will be "fucked hard". Should we expect politicans to take their jobs more seriously instead of acting like children? If they have any sense of priority they should have just ignored Pelosi's provocation and do the right thing (if that is what they believe) for the country.

If we accept the GOP's story, they are worse than idiots and it proves that these people are unfit for higher office.

575. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #275121 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 8:21 pm

Many CEOs complain that health insurance for employees is a major overhead cost for doing business, which makes American firms less competitive. This is even reported in publications such as the Wall Street journal. Why aren't people like DP agitating about universal health coverage?

C Davis Great posts.

This is worth repeating:

"Rich" people don't work harder than poor people, they just have jobs that society has deemed worthy of higher compensation.

576. Barack Obama Exposes The Bible

Comment #275049 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 4:46 pm

A Christian can be a secularist, all he has to do is to acknowledge religion is a private matter.

577. Turek vs. Hitchens Debate: Does God Exist?

Comment #275047 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 4:43 pm

It seems rather petty for a God who supposedly has created the universe to care about whether we worship him. Any God that demands our worship cannot be God, it is just a projection of autocratic, powerful men.

578. A slow but certain demise

Comment #275044 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 4:40 pm

I don't believe it is bad luck to walk under a ladder, but why would anyone? This seems to be an awkward thing to do, also the ladder may fall on you, it is not a most sturdy structure.

579. Barack Obama Exposes The Bible

Comment #275016 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 4:01 pm

Ian

But why can't he be a little more honest. Will we never have a viable political candidate for high office in the USA say outright, "i'm just not that religious".

That is not the candidates' fault. It seems that in the U.S anyone who is honest enough to say (s)he is not religious simply wouldn't make it through the primaries, let alone get elected.

I completely agree with Obama's approach. Too much is at stake.

The question should be what the hell is wrong with the U.S.A.

580. Barack Obama Exposes The Bible

Comment #275009 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 3:55 pm

Was "Being there" supposed to be a satirical take on Reagan? Saw it on TV a while ago.

581. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #275007 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 3:54 pm

Mitchell,

What kind of perversity is consuming you now that you have a bunch of under age little girls for your avatar?

Oh, Laurie Fraser wanted us to tell you this
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/30/2405987.htm

582. Barack Obama Exposes The Bible

Comment #275004 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 3:49 pm

Obama deserves the votes of intelligent people just for this speech. The alternative is the crazy religious Right. Many people correctly identify the danger of Islam, but in the U.S. the Christian right is far more dangerous because they have access to power, it is no joke when rapture ready folks such as Sarah Palin have their fingers on the nuke (Speaking of which I remember Fanusi actually supports the Christian theocrats ticket, talking about preemtive surrending)

583. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #274943 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 2:39 pm

zeroangel

In my case though, it's more than superficially since my company's customers will also be better off under McCain.

And mean while, religious fanatics would be runing the white house, there will be cut backs on education and scientific research, no more affordable health care, no investment in green technology, more deregulation, Sarah Palin may have her finger on the button, ushering in the rapture.. all is worth it so that the 1% who make above 250K can horde even more. Way to go. Fuck the world.

250K a year is middle class?! 95% of the U.S. must be living in abject poverty then.

The selfishness and self absorbtion of some people are just incredible.

584. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #274317 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 12:45 am

Laurie

Magna sexbots! Tera would be happy too.

585. Somalia: Rape Victim Executed

Comment #274311 by Bonzai on October 30, 2008 at 12:08 am

mmurray

His idea I think was that you would expect males to evolve strategies to make sure that the child they were raising was theirs. In the animal kingdom there are strategies like plugging up the vagina with some male secretion. Some homo sapiens instead have decided to sew it up. It would be simpler and easier nowdays to use contraception and dna paternity testing but once something is embedded in a culture it's hard to get rid of.

I like Jarad Diamond's books. But how does this theory explain adoption?

What about matriarchy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoTrARDa8BU&feature=related

586. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #274309 by Bonzai on October 29, 2008 at 11:55 pm

LGS

Sarah Palin: It seems that there is yet another radical professor from the neighborhood who spent a lot of time with Barack Obama going back several years," Palin said at an event in Bowling Green, Ohio.

"This is important because his associate, Rashid Khalidi ... in addition to being a political ally of Barack Obama, he's a former spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization.---from cnn.com

Not surprising. We already know the GOP are a bunch of sleazy balls. But this proves positively that McCain is senile.

A google search for "Rashid Khalidi John McCain" and this turns up

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/28/mccain-funded-work-of-pal_n_138606.html

587. Somalia: Rape Victim Executed

Comment #274273 by Bonzai on October 29, 2008 at 8:34 pm

About Western Muslims speaking out. A difficulty is exactly who are the "Western Muslims" we want to hear from? Mohammad the super market cashier, Amed the engineer, Abu the accountant, or this hipster?http://www.torontolife.com/features/radio-active/

The problem is, when immigrants of Muslim background is completely integrated, they no longer define themselves based on religion and cease to be visible. If they still identify themselves as Muslim first, like the bearded dudes and the veiled women, then they are probably not that moderate in the first place.

588. Richard Dawkins embarrassed after death and subsequent resurrection

Comment #274221 by Bonzai on October 29, 2008 at 6:53 pm

PaulEmecz

It's just that science isn't always the best discipline for answering questions.

No, of course not. Science is not the descipline to answer, for example, how many angels can dance on a pin of a nail. But when is religion the discipline for answering any question except bogus questions it invents for itself?

589. Turek vs. Hitchens Debate: Does God Exist?

Comment #274173 by Bonzai on October 29, 2008 at 5:25 pm

Spinoza

Please. Turek is not "more sophisticated". The man is not a philosopher

I haven't watched the debate so can't say if Turek is sophisticated or not. But please, what makes you think that one has to be a philosopher to be "sophisticated"? Give me a break.

590. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #274165 by Bonzai on October 29, 2008 at 5:00 pm

Goldy,

It must be quantum gravity.

591. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #274158 by Bonzai on October 29, 2008 at 4:54 pm

So all you guys with ? problems are using IE?

592. Somalia: Rape Victim Executed

Comment #274156 by Bonzai on October 29, 2008 at 4:53 pm

Sick fucks. I wish someone have dropped a fucking bomb on the crowd gathered to throw the stones.

593. Premier debates with Dawkins

Comment #274153 by Bonzai on October 29, 2008 at 4:49 pm

375. Comment #273448 by Mitchell Gilks

Orientation neutral pick up line:

"I have some free condoms, let's not waste them.."

To propose marriage, try this:

"Honey, lets get fat, gross and poor together so we will be forever stuck to each other. For eternity we'll have nothing but each other's love"

What is with your avatar? These girls look under age, sicko.

594. Dole Ad Fabricates Audio Of Opponent Yelling 'There Is No God'

Comment #274113 by Bonzai on October 29, 2008 at 4:08 pm

The GOP once again shows that it excels in gutter politics.

But more remarkably, you can actually attack someone by calling her an atheist in U.S. politics.

The U.S. is probably the only country where "intellectual" is a slur and "spreading the wealth" is almost treason. Scary.

595. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #274091 by Bonzai on October 29, 2008 at 3:43 pm

Joe the Plumber is simply delusional. Even his boss' business doesn't worth 25K. Also, his boss is hiring an unlicensed plumber under the table, namely Joe, to boost the profit margin while undermining competitors who play by the rule and pay their taxes. Way to get sympathy.

596. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #274088 by Bonzai on October 29, 2008 at 3:39 pm

There is still one way McCain can win: he can try persuading Bush to endorse Obama.

597. Sarah Palin's War on Science

Comment #273482 by Bonzai on October 28, 2008 at 6:43 pm

The Bible says be fruitfly and multiply, what has she got against fruitflies?

598. Premier debates with Dawkins

Comment #273478 by Bonzai on October 28, 2008 at 6:35 pm

A mathematician pick up line:

My dear, I want to put my generating function in your kernel.

599. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #273477 by Bonzai on October 28, 2008 at 6:34 pm

Frankus