Harper, the Nuclear Expert
This man, our Prime Minister, is one amazing man. This past week he stood up in the House of Parliament and not only abrogated the laws of the land, but repealed the laws of physics. In one swell foop he told us that unequivocally, there would be no nuclear accident, no danger at all, if the nuclear reactor at Chalk River which produces half of the world’s medical nuclear isotopes was restarted, despite the warnings of our Atomic Energy Commission to the contrary. It appears that Harper has some information that the scientists who guide the nuclear commission don’t. Maybe its yet another missive from God that directs this man, our PM, to be able to by-pass what works for the rest of the universe.
I suppose it helps to be emphatic and self assured. Makes me wonder why we went to all the trouble of having a regulatory commission at all. After all, if safety is just a matter of polling enough people till you find those who agree with you then, we have nothing to worry about. Apparently the climate is also part of this divine purview as well. And not only that. If the scientists and specialists happen to disagree with you, recommend something that happens to be opposed to what you have dictated, accuse them of being partisan. Put them on the defensive. Make accusations that they have to defend themselves against. After all, a good offense is the best defense. It worked for MacCarthy back in the 1950s. Its tried, true and tested. Look how well it worked for G W Bush and his supposed weapons of mass destruction.
The laws of physics and nuclear power under the dictates of the PM. Now why didn’t we think of this sooner. It could have saved us a huge amount of trouble, time and money. If you just believe hard enough, pontificate, obfuscate and bellow you can achieve anything. So from now on, no seat belts when I drive, I believe that I am safe. And that nonsense about smoking and cancer, what a crock. So what if I have a few drinks and choose to turn on the ignition of my car and cruise the block. I am more relaxed if I am inebriated.
And while we are at it, all that stuff about evolution and Darwin and Wallace. Let’s get that straightened out too. Let’s rename creationism, call it intelligent design, and harass and harangue the educational institutions so that we can set our young people straight and show them what real science is all about.
Oh? I wonder why our kids are falling behind in the science and math compared to European and Asian countries. I know! Let’s harangue them and accuse them of being partisan and biased and soon they will see the light and aspire to our levels of mediocrity.
Yes, indeed! Praise be. Thank you Mr Harper….Mr Baird….we shoulda thunk about this sooner. Those eggheads at the AECL are full of it!
2 Responses to “ Harper, the Nuclear Expert ”
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January 16th, 2008 at 12:20 am
It seems to me that the PM was right about this. Do you think he just pulled his opinion out of his ass? Or maybe he consulted some experts on the subject. Richard, after listening to you scream in teenage fury at Andrew’s guest today when he suggested that the debate on Global Warming and how we are to deal with it is not over, I will no longer listen to your show. There is no doubt that you are a smart man, but when you can no longer listen to the opinions of others you start to sound less intelligent. I’ll go back to my reading.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:46 am
When scientists proclaim “the debate is over” so is their job. Isn’t it true that the job of a good scientist is to test data and the assumptions that are derived from them? Dr. Eli Goldratt is a physicist. He said “there are no facts, only assumptions. Even the statement ‘my mother loves me’ is an assumption”. With regard to global warming I would like to ask Richard one simple question. Why do scientists say that there is no correlation between CO2 levels and Global warming? Not true you say? Do a quick search on Google for “CO2 and Global warming”.
Apparently the debate is NOT over.