Stupidest piece of legislation considered all year
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  Stupidest piece of legislation considered all year
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Author Topic: Stupidest piece of legislation considered all year  (Read 2153 times)
Storebought
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« on: September 29, 2008, 07:29:09 PM »

The House on Monday sent to President Bush a bill sponsored by Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama that would eventually ban the export of elemental mercury.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The United States is one of the world's biggest exporters of mercury, a neurotoxin that is harmful to humans, especially pregnant women, newborns and children. In the 2000-2004 period the United States exported 506 more metric tons than it imported and the legislation notes that the export ban would have a notable affect on the market availability of elemental mercury.

"I applaud Congress' overwhelming bipartisan passage of this important bill, which will protect millions of the world's vulnerable citizens, particularly pregnant women and children, from the deadly threat of mercury poisoning," Obama said in a statement.

Elemental mercury can be found in thermometers, barometers, dental amalgams and batteries. The main source of pollution comes from mercury exported for use in foreign mining operations and other industrial processes.


So now Nancy Pelosi's Congress has decided to ban the eightieth element of the periodic table

Neglecting the sheer scientific ignorance that could conceive this (Hg is poisonous when complexed to organic compounds or is inhaled as a vapor -- the elemental metal is harmless), what they intend to do is

(1) shut down the mines in the US that extract the stuff from other metals and sell it for profit on the international market, because the US doesn't really need the trade

(2) raise the prices on the myriad health and technological products that use mercury to function, as if commodity price inflation hasn't already wrought havoc with goods that make use of the other base metals

(3) completely ignore the true cause of mercury poisoning, namely, the primitive technology and utter lack of regard for worker safety and environmental standards in the Third World industries. Obama and the rest of his band of morons would prefer to shutter American industry, and declare war against a natural element, than tell China and India to improve their own primitive industrial standards.
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King
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« Reply #1 on: September 29, 2008, 09:34:45 PM »

Did he earmark a $700 billion bail out for the financial industry? If so, he's a genius.
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MODU
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« Reply #2 on: September 29, 2008, 09:43:43 PM »


So, he wants to ban a valuable export so another country can fill the gap?  I guess that matches up with Bidens call for no clean coal in the US. 
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Associate Justice PiT
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« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2008, 12:14:22 AM »

     *facepalms*
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NDN
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« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2008, 12:16:02 AM »

Oh well, at least he believes in Evolution. Unlike some people.
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StatesRights
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« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2008, 12:16:06 AM »


At least we have another "War Against".

Oh well, at least he believes in Evolution. Unlike some people.

Which version of the THEORY of Evolution should we believe in?
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NDN
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« Reply #6 on: September 30, 2008, 12:35:57 AM »

The one that 90% of scientists accept? Also just because it's a 'theory' doesn't mean it can't be a fact. Unless we're going to start questioning Gravity too.
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StatesRights
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« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2008, 12:38:03 AM »

The one that 90% of scientists accept? Also just because it's a 'theory' doesn't mean it can't be a fact. Unless we're going to start questioning Gravity too.

I'm pretty sure that when you say "90%" you're speaking out of your ass. Come on NDN, you're more awesome then that.
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dead0man
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« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2008, 12:40:00 AM »


At least we have another "War Against".

Oh well, at least he believes in Evolution. Unlike some people.

Which version of the THEORY of Evolution should we believe in?
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"theory" doesn't mean what you think it means.  For example, we are nowhere close to having a "theory" of Global Warming because the tests they run for it suck balls.  Evolution is a fact.  (and it doesn't disprove God at all)
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StatesRights
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« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2008, 12:41:52 AM »

How is evolution testable?
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NDN
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« Reply #10 on: September 30, 2008, 12:44:14 AM »
« Edited: September 30, 2008, 12:47:09 AM by Rorschach »

Microevolution is, at least. We can see individual cells mutating into different strains of bacteria. Even a lot of the fundamentalists have conceded that. Besides that we have plenty of fossil records and DNA testing that indicates significant change over time in species or at least close relation between them.

Anyway, aside from that the term 'theory' in a scientific context just means an explanation based on observed facts rather than just speculation.
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Meeker
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« Reply #11 on: September 30, 2008, 12:46:18 AM »

I like how you place all the blame on Obama and Pelosi when the Republicans voted in favor of it 170-5 as well.

But just looking at the list of those who opposed makes me want to support it:

Broun
Flake
Paul
Sali
Westmoreland

If you asked me to make a list of the members whose policy judgments I trusted least, there you have it.
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StatesRights
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« Reply #12 on: September 30, 2008, 12:47:08 AM »

Please remember, I'm just playing devils advocate. I believe in evolution but probably not as current science describes it.
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NDN
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« Reply #13 on: September 30, 2008, 12:47:42 AM »

Please remember, I'm just playing devils advocate. I believe in evolution but probably not as current science describes it.
Hard to tell with you. Tongue

I'm not exactly Richard Dawkins myself you know.
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StatesRights
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« Reply #14 on: September 30, 2008, 12:48:35 AM »

Please remember, I'm just playing devils advocate. I believe in evolution but probably not as current science describes it.
Hard to tell with you. Tongue


Not if you really know me. I remember my mother fussing with me about playing Devils advocate since I was at least 10 years old. Tongue
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dead0man
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« Reply #15 on: September 30, 2008, 12:53:35 AM »

Dogs do it for me.  The Galapogos did it for Darwin.  Madagascar is pretty good too.  Hell, any large island reasonbly seperated from the mainland for 100,000 years.

..and I hate Dawkins with a passion.
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NDN
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« Reply #16 on: September 30, 2008, 01:00:25 AM »
« Edited: September 30, 2008, 01:05:33 AM by Rorschach »

Dogs do it for me.  The Galapogos did it for Darwin.  Madagascar is pretty good too.  Hell, any large island reasonbly seperated from the mainland for 100,000 years.

..and I hate Dawkins with a passion.
Yeah, this works too.

At least he can sort of defend his arguments. What's more annoying than Dawkins is the legions of social whatever crats and Nietzche wannabes that copy him. Without being even remotely as well spoken. They're almost as annoying as the fundies.
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dead0man
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« Reply #17 on: September 30, 2008, 01:04:52 AM »

Nah, Dawkins is a douche.  He's smart and he's (generally) right, but he's still an asshat.
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NDN
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« Reply #18 on: September 30, 2008, 01:05:45 AM »

Nah, Dawkins is a douche.  He's smart and he's (generally) right, but he's still an asshat.
No disputing that.
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Jacobtm
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« Reply #19 on: September 30, 2008, 01:05:52 AM »


Evolution is defined as a net change in the gene-pool of a population. Evolution depends on three things being true:

1.) Sexual reproduction results in offspring which contain genes from both parents.
2.) Some individuals of a population die before breeding.
3.) Of those which do breed, some produce more viable offspring (offspring who will themselves go on to breed) than others.

Every species is constantly evolving as long as some individuals are dying before they breed and some breed more than others. To have evolved as a species merely means that one generation has a different sum of genes than previous ones did.

This paper documents dozens of instances of observed speciation:
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-speciation.html
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Storebought
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« Reply #20 on: September 30, 2008, 08:08:24 AM »

I like how you place all the blame on Obama and Pelosi when the Republicans voted in favor of it 170-5 as well.

But just looking at the list of those who opposed makes me want to support it:

Broun
Flake
Paul
Sali
Westmoreland

If you asked me to make a list of the members whose policy judgments I trusted least, there you have it.


I'm disappointed Roscoe Bartlett of MD isn't on that list.

The principle still stands: This is just ignorance parading as concern for public health. Simply demand that the Chinese improve their own abysmal factory standards.
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