Category: Environmentalism | Page 12

003 – Global Warming: Snow Job or Inconvenient Truth?

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May 032007

The rapid cancellation of promising television series like Drive, starring Nathan Fillion, serves as a stark reminder of the flaws inherent in the ratings-driven system that dominates network decision-making. In a recent broadcast, we drew attention to how erratic scheduling, poor time slots, and direct competition with established hits doomed this intriguing program from the outset, much as it did with classics like the original Star Trek and Fillion’s earlier Firefly. Quality entertainment, we argued, cannot be solely measured by instantaneous viewer counts, which prioritize advertiser interests over creative merit and audience discovery.

Shifting to economic realities, we examined the persistent complaints surrounding rising gasoline prices, attributing them not to corporate greed or collusion, but to fundamental principles of supply and demand. Misconceptions abound, with many callers and commentators demanding price controls or boycotts—measures that would only exacerbate shortages by discouraging production. No new refineries have been built in North America for over three decades, yet our demand continues to rise, creating inevitable upward pressure on costs. Adjusted for inflation, gasoline remains a remarkable bargain when compared to everyday commodities like bottled water, underscoring the extraordinary efforts required to extract, refine, and distribute this essential resource.

Finally, we critiqued the prevailing environmental frenzy, particularly Al Gore‘s influential documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which we described as propaganda promoting government control over industry and individual choices. Contradictions in Gore’s data on CO2 emissions, exaggerated claims of scientific consensus, and the politicization of climate issues through fear and moral appeals were highlighted as evidence of a deeper agenda hostile to human progress and capitalism. True environmental stewardship aligns with rational advancement, not collectivist restrictions. Achieving this perspective requires rejecting alarmism and embracing free-market principles in a manner that’s just right.

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001 – Left and Right: An Orientation

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Apr 192007

Here we are with the very first broadcast of Just Right. I’m Bob Metz, stepping up to the microphone after the retirement of Jim Chapman and the end of Left, Right, and Center. I make it clear right from the start: this isn’t about being right-wing, it’s about being just right – that philosophy of freedom, reason, individual rights, voluntary choice, and tolerance that stands in stark contrast to the left’s statism, force, collectivism, whim, and intolerance, whether it comes wrapped in conservative or liberal packaging.

I lay out the real meaning of left versus right, drawing from Plato and Aristotle all the way to today’s issues like abortion (neither ban nor subsidize), Sunday shopping (treat it like any other day), and pornography (freedom of speech, not bans from the religious right or the feminist left). All Canadian parties? They’re all on the left in my book.

Then I dive into that campus controversy over the Western Gazette‘s April Fool’s spoof – a satirical piece that had the usual suspects screaming for apologies, sensitivity training, ethics codes, and even removing editors by vote. I defend it as legitimate humor and free speech, exposing the intolerance behind calls to censor “offensive” content, the myth of a “rape culture” in the West, and the feminist agenda that confuses sexuality with sexism while demanding force and funding to silence dissent. Throw in some history on pornography laws, the Fraser Committee, and the real story behind Linda Lovelace. I Even touch on a few TV shows like Drive, Lost, and that brilliant Firefly.

In the end, defending freedom of speech, individual justice, and reason against the forces of censorship and collectivism is what being on the side of freedom is all about – and that’s Just Right.