491 – Neil Gorsuch—Here come the judge / Sanctuary cities Comments Off on 491 – Neil Gorsuch—Here come the judge / Sanctuary cities Feb 092017 GIVE US SANCTUARY – from Virtue Signalers “By nominating Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, (U.S. president) Trump selected a person who places the idea of limited government and freedom as the number one issue in his legal philosophy,” notes our guest Salim Mansur on today’s broadcast of Just Right. As a judge who would keep a president in check, Gorsuch’s appointment to the Supreme Court would make completely foolish any claim that Trump is a “fascist” or some other term describing a totalitarian. Then there was the “so-called judge,” in Trump’s terms, who inappropriately quashed his executive order to temporarily suspend immigration from seven countries identified as sources of Islamist terrorism. Not only was Trump’s executive order perfectly appropriate and within his legitimate authority, the countries cited under the immigration ban were chosen with good reason, explains Salim. Six of the seven countries (Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Somalia) that have had their immigration rights suspended are failed states. “In other words,” explains Salim, “they have no institutional governments working.” The seventh country (Iran) has been in a declared state of war with the United States for the past 38 years. All were identified and well documented as problematic by the previous administration. Trump did not add any new nations to the already established list. The previous administration well knew that it was not possible to verify or identify immigrants from these areas – yet did nothing to prevent them from emigrating to sanctuary jurisdictions. Continue reading »
490 – Climate change crisis: What are the odds? | Dave Plumb 1 Response » Feb 022017 When it comes to climate, one theory holds that there’s a fifty-fifty chance that we’ll be unable to adapt to climate change 90% of the time. For the other 10% of the time there’s still a fifty-fifty chance that our odds will remain even. Of course, it depends on which side of the C02 / carbon tax issue you’re on, and on which political party you support. Sound confusing? Confusing us is the whole point of playing the percentages warns Dave Plumb, who joins us today for a continuing discussion about both the science and politics of climate change. Here’s a 100% certainty: CO2 production is a natural and healthy occurrence. You could even say that efforts to rid our planet of CO2 are unnatural and unhealthy. Playing the percentages is just one of the ways politicians justify “fighting climate change” by taxing CO2 production. Citing man-made CO2 production as a reason for “fighting climate change” – and in turn using the “fight against climate change” as a premise for taxing man-made CO2 – is a circular and fraudulent way to impose a new tax that will neither reduce world CO2 levels nor prevent climate change. Continue reading »
489 – The very Presidential Donald J. Trump / Unfettered capitalism Comments Off on 489 – The very Presidential Donald J. Trump / Unfettered capitalism Jan 262017 In keeping with past Inauguration addresses made by American presidents, Donald Trump‘s Inauguration Address last Friday turned out to be very presidential indeed. Criticized as being a “dark speech” the likes of which has never been heard before, it would be more accurate to suggest that Trump’s Inaugural Address followed a tradition that has been a presidential practice since the days of John Adams, the second president of the United States. The parallels are striking and are part of the conversation on today’s Just Right, along with our point-by-point analysis of some key essentials in Trump’s address. Could Donald Trump’s address be resurrecting the symbolic “ghost” of John Adams? “A nation exists to serve its citizens,” Trump declared, in stark contrast to the opposing philosophy that has been running the White House since the days of John F Kennedy. Under Trump’s “America first” agenda, is “Buy American” an un-American slogan? Can trade restrictions and import/export taxes possibly benefit the general welfare, or are they simply a continuation of crony politics that benefit the few at the expense of the many? Continue reading »
488 – For the love of money / Freedom: The unknown ideal Comments Off on 488 – For the love of money / Freedom: The unknown ideal Jan 192017 FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY – FOR THE LOVE OF LIFE: “Tyranny of the rich?” That’s rich! But it’s a common belief among those who have a limited understanding (or outright dislike) of capitalism and what that word truly represents. “Capitalism is slavery,” is another epistemological contradiction that is often heard in the blind rage against the singular economic system that is the very opposite of slavery. Or maybe you’ve heard these before: “Capitalists prey on the poor” or “The love of money is the root of all evil.” These are, of course, demonstrable falsehoods. Yet many accept these bromides as truths. To be able to counter these tragic misunderstandings (or to discover sinister intentions), one must be intellectually and morally armed against them. On today’s Just Right, you’ll hear our response to these and many more similar bromides that lead to tragic outcomes when practiced as truths. Continue reading »
487 – Fake news—Turning a blind eye to the truth Comments Off on 487 – Fake news—Turning a blind eye to the truth Jan 122017 SO WHO’S FAKING IT? “You are fake news!” declared U.S. president-elect Donald Trump yesterday in reaction to a CNN reporter’s accusations. Not surprisingly, “fake news” has become a very real post-US election news story itself, and we can expect to hear a lot more of that oxymoronic term in the future since it has become the latest anti-concept of the left. Of course, “fake news” is no news. “Fake news” is really just the latest popular expression for “propaganda” or “fiction” or “lies”, things that have been a part of news reporting since the beginning of news reporting itself. The real news is that those objecting to “fake news” the loudest are primarily voices from the very media reporting the fake news. They are using this latest pejorative as their weapon against the real news so as to make it difficult for most people to tell the difference. To make matters even more confusing, like real news, fake news is often supported by facts. But facts alone are not a story, and facts alone do not reveal any truths. Continue reading »
486 – Political reform—Just follow the money / Proportional representation vs first-past-the-post 1 Response » Jan 052017 MAJORITY FOOLS: Ontario voters and taxpayers have been played for fools when promised that Kathleen Wynne’s electoral financing reform would eliminate influence peddling on the part of her Liberal Party. But Wynne has delivered on her promise. In the name of supposedly eliminating assumed “corruption” evidenced by $1000+ voluntary political contributions paid to the Liberal Party to attend some party events, the problem has now been solved. Effective January 1 of this year, you no longer have to be a Liberal supporter to contribute your cash to the Liberal Party. In fact, everyone in Ontario must now do so. If you live in Ontario, you are now being forced to support the Liberal Party – and three others – with your tax dollars, even if you strongly disagree with all of their policies. Thanks to Bill 2 (formerly Bill 201), every Ontario taxpayer has now been forced to contribute – for the first time ever – directly to the following political parties, and retroactively in 2016: Continue reading »
485 – Ghost in the machine? / Just Right year-end review Comments Off on 485 – Ghost in the machine? / Just Right year-end review Dec 292016 As 2016 draws to a close, we would like to thank you, our listeners, for making 2016 Just Right’s greatest single year in audience growth. 2016 was Just Right’s first year as an independent weekly radio broadcast and podcast, free from the constraints of the politically-correct university environment in which the show originated. Our on-line listener statistics for the 2016 tell a remarkable story: Over the past year alone, visits to our web site have increased from a few hundred per day in 2015 to an average approaching 2000 per day. “Unique visitors” to our site have increased from an average of 2000 per month to 15,000 per month. And with each passing month, thousands more are added to these numbers. Considering that Just Right is produced only once a week, the growth in the number shows downloaded over the past year is significant. In 2015 Just Right’s bandwidth traffic of 848 gigabytes represents approximately 12,110 show downloads, while in 2016, bandwidth traffic (to Dec 21) of 4.6 Terabytes represents a minimum of 65,242 show downloads. That’s a growth rate exceeding 500% over the past year alone, and the numbers show no signs of slowing down. Continue reading »