Just Right… with Bob Metz and Robert Vaughan

490 – Climate change crisis: What are the odds? | Dave Plumb

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 »

484 – Artificial intelligence gathering | Christopher Essex

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Dec 222016

Is “artificial intelligence” (AI) really an artificially stupid topic? Is there even such a thing as “artificial” intelligence, or are we just playing with words?

The answers are not as straightforward as one might at first glance assume. Indeed, assumptions may well determine the outcome of a tautology that would have us chasing our own tales of intelligence.

Join us for a real intelligence gathering, together with our in-studio guest Professor Christopher Essex of Western University’s Department of Applied Mathematics. It’s a discussion about the pitfalls and promises of what has come to be called “artificial intelligence,” and why the discussion itself has as many pitfalls as its subject.

The circular debate between “real” and “artificial” intelligence may simply be caused by assuming that the latter refers to some form of “artificial human.” It cannot. “Intelligence,” however defined, is an unreal concept when used in the attempt to distinguish between man and machine. Continue reading »