459 – Brexited / Democracy, democracy, democracy / Cannabis culture clash / ill Legalization of cannabis sales

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Jun 302016
 

Nigel Farage

Have the British people, by rejecting membership in the European Union, created a darker or brighter future for Britain? Our first impressions of the post-‘Brexit‘ European Union will no doubt not be our last.

As the British exit from the political EU, there’s no reason why an economic union cannot continue to be part of Britain’s future relationship with Europe – a union under free trade. If there is opposition to that kind of relationship, it will likely come from Brussels, as Nigel Farage stated so boldly before the EU this past Tuesday. All expectations about the EU’s future have yet to be confirmed or proven incorrect, as the story continues to unfold.

Meanwhile, back in Canada, the Liberal plan for Cannabis Legalization is well under way, as police conduct raids on Toronto cannabis dispensaries, charging operators and employees with ‘trafficking’ offences. Many of these dispensaries had freely been operating for years as cannabis vapor lounges, tolerated under the previous Conservative government, which had no plans to ‘legalize’ cannabis. Continue reading »

454 – Guest: Paul McKeever / Ontario’s power politics

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May 262016
 

Fireman Patrick Brown

Topics:
00:03 Is it government? Ontario’s state of anarchy, political parties as organized criminal gangs, Toronto pot crackdown, defining what government is, Al Capone’s political popularity, alcohol monopolies and cartels
14:15 Ontario’s power politics: cap and trade, killing production with green policies, ending competition in the energy market, phasing out natural gas, monopoly on energy, rationing electricity, single payer energy system, forced electric car sales, prohibiting fossil fuels for home heating, a long history of Ontario’s power politics, Liberals and Conservatives as gangs, quotas on electricity, smart meters as instruments of rationing
32:15 Criminal conduct is not ‘government’: Liberals-Progressive Conservatives-New Democrats are all climate communists, Progressive Conservatives as no option for change, Ontario as a Green Acres comedy, Conservative destructive policy of ‘Power at Cost’ (1902), Conservatives explicitly against capitalism since 1905, abuse of government power on power, the natural gas problem (1950s), climate change as pretext, legalizing criminality, Ontario’s political cartel, appealing to the ‘something-for-nothing’ voters
47:45 Freedom to party: truth vs lies – and bullsh*t, elected criminal organizations – Liberals, PCs, and New Democrats, electing a government instead of criminals, political party restrictions through finance reforms, plans to silence political opposition, escaping Ontario’s oppression, Ontario’s pension plan as control of individual movement, for government – vote Freedom Party, Kathleen Wynne’s obsession with sex, freedom isn’t free, Freedom Party 59:42 END

452 – Guest: Salim Mansur – The Trump Rearrangement Conundrum

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May 122016
 

Trump as Pericles

Topics:
00:03 Pericles’ parallel: Conrad Black’s Civitas keynotes on Trump, prediction of a Trump presidency, four failed US administrations, doubling America’s fiscal debt, conservative reactions against Trump, Pericles’ parallel, the universality of human nature, the individual as unique, media disconnect from public pulse, media malpractice
17:20 Observer effect: economics as behavioural psychology, network of conservative opinion makers against Trump, markets and interests at play, ideology and consequences, doctrine vs pragmatism, we the people are sovereign, Declaration of Independence, skill sets for the political game
33:40 Education by election: Trump on women, women on Trump, trumping the sex and race cards, Hillary Clinton as a catastrophe, upcoming electoral conflict as instruction for young voters, immigration issues, unfunded wars with no results, globalization, free trade vs mercantilism, carbon taxes exporting jobs, America first vs protectionism, politics as the Queen of all disciplines
48:25 The Trump Rearrangement Conundrum: changing the Trump conversation, predicting Trump’s nomination and presidency, process of deal making, the Democratic question, emergence of independents, crossing tradition political lines 59:42 END

Mar 242016
 

GOP Logo

Topics:
00:03 Trump Derangement Syndrome: the phenomenon of Donald Trump’s popularity, politics is about the people, republic or democracy, the meaning of sovereignty, constraining the sovereign through republican structure, Magna Carta, characteristics of democracy, Constitutional issues as ideological doctrine, no place for academic debate in political arena, constitutional ideologues
15:50 The people’s Trump card: dangers of being doctrinaire on the constitution, government in one’s life, checks and balances, Obamacare, the competent man, America’s three brances of government, single payer health care, immigration not a new issue, problem of incumbency
35:50 Checks and balances – the constrained monarch: Trump’s lack of philosophical focus, dangers of the democratic franchise, racist and bigot charges against the people, making America great again, Eisenhower’s legacy, Democratic-Republican Party of Jefferson, the president as the constrained monarch, the people speak – through Trump, coalition of interests
48:35 Persona and character: Trump as a crude character, messaging through persona, Trump Derangement Syndrome on the Left, Trump as a threat to the left, the Islam factor, conservatism, the problem with ideologues, final predictions
59:42 END

424 – Left and right – A comparison / Our political culture of corruption

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Oct 292015
 

Stop Harper

 
 
 
 

Topics:
00:03 Left and Right – A comparison: characteristics of the left, media reaction to Canadian federal election results, leftists vs rightists, contrast in print – Toronto Star vs National Post
15:25 Star of the Left: Toronto Star editorial on Harper’s electoral loss, assertions of ‘misgovernance’, the left’s expressions of revulsion against Harper, characterizing the left as petty and vindictive, the left has no class
32:30 Our political culture of corruption: the West’s crisis of corruption, Ontario’s Kathleen Wynne and the teachers’ unions, forms of corruption, consequences of corruption, against what standard, examples of systemic corruption in political practice
48:30 Voting for corruption by corrupting the vote: the ideology of the non-ideological, contradiction as corruption, ‘war of ideology’, solving the problem of Canadian democracy, majority rule as an end rather than means, pragmatism, ideology matters, choosing between right and wrong, the contradiction of ‘non-partisanship’ and proportional representation 1:04:58 END

414 – Black Sails / From anarchy to self-government

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Aug 202015
 

Black Sails

 
 
 
 

Topics:
00:07 Power in the telling: too much scripted TV, scripted TV programs, fixed audience, finding good television shows, TV listings, 300-400 scripted TV shows currently in production, no fixed markets, the power of scripted television, editorializing by script, TV recommendation – Black Sails
18:40 Sailing from anarchy to self-government: Black Sails – the TV series, masterful storytelling, review samplings, adult content, story-driven plot and theme
36:20 Some things are black and black: Black Sails – a story of power, piracy, voting, turning plunder into trade and profit, law, order, establishment of legal authority, monarchy, libertarian ideal, no governance vs good governance
50:25 Courting the public court: latest Bill Cosby allegations, Gloria Allred’s call for a public debate, three more women make allegations against Cosby, Cosby’s philosophy on sex
59:16 END

413 – Canadian federal election 1st debate / U.S. GOP primary 1st debate

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Aug 132015
 

Donald Trump

 
 
 
 

Topics:
00:07 Keep the change, thanks: Canadian federal leaders’ debate, why Stephen Harper won the debate, political change, superficial media reaction, given alternatives
17:55 Last past the post: Canadian federal leaders’ debate, electoral reform, engaging youth, elected dictatorship, representation, Quebec separatism, poverty, climate change, social justice, group rights, the function of political parties, first-past-the-post,
37:05 Trump trumps would-be trumpers: US Republican debate, Donald Trump, ridiculing Trump, war on women, Trump leads in polls
49:10 Trump card: US Republican debate, Donald Trump, Obamacare, single-payer health care, welfare vs welfare state, campaign donations as bribes, abortion, pro-life, Trump’s tone, running independently, Trump as a Republican problem
1:00:43 END