$100 worth of science fail

So the Canadian government has decided to give our bills a makeover. Gone are the days of money made out of cotton! A new era of synthetic polymer bank notes has arrived. They look pretty cool, which is good. Supposedly, these notes are harder to counterfeit, which is even better. And the $100 bill is a celebration of science, which is even more awesome. The reverse side of the bill shows a bottle of insulin, a lady working at a microscope, and a strand of DNA, as shown below.

 

 Wait a second. Something looks wrong here. Let's take a closer look...

 That helix is left-handed! DNA is a right-handed helix, not a left-handed helix. I applaud the Government for making the bill science-centric, but really, how hard would it have been to get the art accurate? The left-handed helix mistake is incredibly common, but that's really no excuse.

Canadian Government Continues to Dig its own Scientific Grave

Our government continues to inch its way closer to being scientifically six feet under. The latest anti-science nonsense from Harper's regime: rejecting a motion to recognize Charles Darwin on his birthday and the marvelous theory he formulated.

According to the official records, MP Pierre Paquette rose to make the following request:

Mr. Speaker, I seek the unanimous consent of the House to adopt the following motion: That the House acknowledge the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, which launched the theory of evolution, the only proven and recognized scientific explanation for the origin of man. I believe you will find unanimous consent for adoption of this motion.

It was promptly rejected.

According to The Canadian Press, most of the "nays" came from the Conservative MPs (big surprise there), whereas the majority of votes were "yays" from the other parties. Unfortunately, Paquette was looking for a unanimous decision, so "mostly yes" wasn't good enough.

In other words, our government has officially rejected evolution.

Now, perhaps the wording has something to do with this. Including "unanimous" was probably a big mistake, but the bigger problem lies in calling evolution "the only proven and recognized scientific explanation for the origin of man." While this is technically correct - evolution IS the only scientifically accepted theory of man's origins and has been observed, tested and pretty much proved over and over again - politicians are not scientists. They are laypeople who have a cursory understanding of evolution at best and a complete ignorance at worst. Asking them to pass a motion firmly stating that evolution has been proven and is the only accepted theory in the scientific community, when they don't really understand the nature of the theory and its proofs, is a dumb idea. Even if the nay-sayers DID accept evolutionary theory, their lack of understanding of evolution would probably have prevented them from voting for the motion.

This article from Maclean's argues that the reason it was rejected was because the conservatives have decided that they are going to vote no on any motion presented by the other parties, which, if true, is incredibly petty.

Either way, our government just gave another "Eff You" to science.

A nod to Larry Moran for bringing this to my attention.

Harper Government Continues Anti-Science Streak

Apologies if I may be a bit late on the issue here; I haven't really been paying attention to Canadian politics much lately. The Harper government recently released the federal budget, and things are not looking up for science in Canada:

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada are streamlining operations and aligning programs with the objectives of the Government’s Science and Technology Strategy and national research priorities. Through closer coordination, these agencies are improving the effectiveness of existing programs, aligning their programs with their core roles and fostering the development of innovative new programs.

These savings will be used in this budget to support repairs at post-secondary institutions, to upgrade key Arctic research facilities, to expand the Canada Graduate Scholarships program and graduate internships, and to support new world-class research facilities. This budget also sets aside $750 million to support the current and future activities of the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

In other words, Harper and his cronies have decided to reduce research grants and funding for basic research, while at the same time, trying to increase the number of graduate students in the country. That's almost paradoxical. It's kinda hard for grad students to find a supervisor, if potential supervisors can't get new funding to support them!

On top of this, the Conservatives seem to be playing favourites with Canadian research institutions. Genome Canada got absolutely no new funding this year, while the Institute for Quantum Computing got a grant for $50 million that wasn't even peer-reviewed.

And thus science in Canada continues sliding downwards. As someone who's trying to find a job in the scientific community right now, this is very disheartening. I very much want to be involved in Canada's scientific community, but the Harper government seems like it's doing whatever it can to force me, and many other young, aspiring scientists, to take our talents abroad.

America isnt the only place with crazies running for office.

It seems our great nation of Canada also has its kooks wanting to be in the government.

According to this article from the Edmonton Sun, the district of Sudbury, Ontario is home to one such individual, running for a seat in the upcoming federal election. David Popescu is running as an independent in the Sudbury riding. Yesterday, at the Sudbury Secondary School auditorium, Popescu attended a discussion forum along with his fellow candidates from the NDP, Liberal and First People's National parties. The discussion was a great opportunity for highschool kids to pose questions to the candidates and to get involved in the political scene, even though they're not old enough to vote yet. It was at this forum where Popescu's crazy was on display in its entirety.

First he introduced himself with a public prayer, which is a bit unusual, but isn't something entirely crazy. He proceeded to tell the kids how climate change and economic woes are due to the wickedness of society - a bit loopy. But it wasn't until he was asked his opinion on gay marriage that Popescu was shown to be a total wackjob. His response?

That all homosexuals should be executed.

Someone running for government, here in Canada, said that. I'm absolutely dumbstruck.
And if you think that maybe he was misquoted or that his response was taken out of context, he was later asked to clarify his response. He only reasserted his view saying,

"A young man asked me what I think of homosexual marriages and I said I think homosexuals should be executed...[m]y whole reason for running is the Bible and the Bible couldn't be more clear on that point."

Popescu also told a student who asked about stem cell research that "God would hurt" any woman who had an abortion.

I am, however, somewhat glad to see the highschool kid's reactions to Popescu's comments:

"The crowd jeered and many rose to their feet in protest after Popescu answered another teenager's question on gay marriage."

It's nice to see that the kids know enough to disagree with Popescu's vile ideas.

Nonetheless, I dont really like the police response to the situation:

Police are investigating whether [Popescu] committed a hate crime by telling high school students homosexuals should be executed..."We are actively conducting a criminal investigation in this matter," deputy police chief Frank Elsner said."

I do think that what Popescu was wrong, and I do think that what he said was hateful; but I don't think that he should be thrown in jail for saying it, especially if he was invited to a forum to give his views and was specifically asked about them.

Either way, I'm shocked that such a person could be running for election in our country. I'd really like to say that his remarks have cost him the seat, but frankly, I'm not that sure that it will.

Stockwell Day gets it; Winnipeg MP almost gets it.

Well it seems that the Phelps clan probably won't be making any appearances in our country any time soon. They've been barred from our country. CBC News reports:

"Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day's office sent an alert to border patrol to "look out" for people with signs and pamphlets consistent with the messages that the church promotes and to keep them out of the country, Winnipeg MP Pat Martin told CBC News on Friday"

At least Stockwell Day gets it. These people are vile, disrespectful excuses for humans and shouldn't be let into our country. This is great news. However, I have a bit of a bone to pick with Winnipeg MP Pat Martin...

""Entering Canada by a U.S. citizen isn't an absolute right, and if you're coming here only to disrupt the social order and to promote what we consider to be bordering on hate crimes or hate language, they shouldn't come into Canada," Martin said."

He's absolutely right that entering our country is not an absolute right, but whats this about 'bordering' on hate crime or hate language? How can someone in our country publicly exclaim "Jesus Sucks" and be charged with hate crimes, yet a known hate group can come into our country, spew thier vile, hateful filth and that only boarders on hate crimes? It IS a hate crime. It IS hate language.

The reason why the Westborro Baptist Chruch's members havent been locked up or at least fined for what should be obvious reasons is beyond me. Oh, wait, nevermind. It's probably because they hide behind that impervious shield of religion. They get away with saying what they please because it's their "religion". They get to spew their intolerance because disagreing with them means you are intolerant.

So far they've only been barred from entering our country - the boarder guards have been instructed to turn them away. They haven't explicitly been BANNED from Canada and they may make their way in elsewhere. Hopefully the government realizes the need to have these lunatics outright banned and follow Massachusetts and keep them out for good.

A Busy Week for the Phelps Clan

It's been a busy week for those fear-mongering, inhuman folks in the Phelps clan. Only a few days ago, the Westboro Baptist Church were hit by a fire that destroyed their church (whether it was arson or not it was arson has yet to be determined). This weekend, they are going to be in Red Deer, picketing the Laramie Project, and now this:

"A church group described in a British documentary as "the most hated family in America" says it will head to Canada this weekend to protest Tim McLean's funeral.

The daughter of the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, Ka., told CTV.ca she and several other church members will go to Winnipeg on Saturday to demonstrate against what she described as McLean's "filthy way of life." Shirley Phelps-Roper said his life was emblematic of Canada's moral decay."

The WBC are claiming that Tim McLean's death was a gift from God. They are claiming that he lead a "filthy" way of life (who knew that the WBC was against carnies?!). They are claiming that he came from a "rebel country" ( a "fag nation' as Phelps has previously refered to Canada). And they are heading to Winnepeg to picket his funeral.

This is absolutely deplorable. Do they really believe that it is God's will to have people they dislike brutally decapitated on a public bus? The Phelps clan literally makes me sick to my stomach.

With any hope, they will be denied entry into Canada. Why they would be allowed to pass when they are entirely likely to be a threat to public order and intice hate crimes.