037 – Slanted journalism / Guest: Karen Selick on Marc Emery’s extradition / Atheism / Religion and Virtue

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Jan 172008
 

Karen Selick

Media distortions demand our scrutiny, particularly when a London Free Press headline touts a teen activist’s dedication to peace while the story reveals a campaign against military recruitment lacking balance or substance. Such coverage polarizes falsely, conceals counterarguments, and leaves readers chasing details online.

Marc Emery’s defiance against prohibition laws grips our attention amid his tentative plea with American authorities. Karen Selick analyzes the pressures, jurisdictional puzzles, and his targeting for effective activism rather than mere commerce. His candor stands in stark contrast to the underground trade, raising questions of political persecution and heroic resolve in challenging state power.

Critics assail the new atheism of figures like Richard Dawkins as intellectual totalitarianism, yet overlook how books advance ideas through persuasion alone. Surveys claiming believers embrace virtues more deeply invite examination, for many qualities listed represent values or even potential vices absent true moral anchors like justice and reason. Atheism signals absence, not dogma, underscoring rationality’s role.

These explorations of media, activism, faith and morality expose vital tensions in liberty and thought that strike just right.

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036 – Get real!

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Jan 102008
 

Walmart
We open 2008 convinced that facing reality has never been more urgent. When Salim Mansur urges us all to drop the political drivel and confront human nature exactly as it is, we couldn’t agree more. His powerful reminder that freedom remains under constant attack by envy and tyranny cuts straight to the core of what this show is all about.

Of course, not everyone embraces clear thinking. Local columnists are in full panic mode because Walmart wants to keep some stores open 24 hours a day. They warn that this terrible convenience will spin our lives out of control and leave us in despair. We see things very differently. Shopping is human connection. It’s choice. It’s the social fabric that brings people together. These gloomy rants expose a deeper contempt for commerce and individual freedom.

But nothing matters more right now than stopping the extradition of Marc Emery to the United States. Karen Selick’s devastating open letter to the Justice Minister lays bare why this principled activist must stay right here in Canada. We’re calling on everyone to sign the petition and stand up for sovereignty.

From the latest twists in the global warming debate to Walter Williams’ brilliant insights on private property and future generations, the ideas fly fast and furious.

Unfiltered truth, bold challenges, and zero apologies for defending liberty – it all comes together just right.

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035 – Scrooge was right

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Dec 202007
 

gift

Christmas arrives with its familiar calls for peace on Earth, selfless giving, and denunciations of commercial excess. Yet these very ideals warrant closer scrutiny.

Commercialism lies at the heart of the season’s joy. Trading goods and celebrating material abundance reflect human productivity, not greed. Pagan roots of winter festivals honor harvest and survival through reason and effort—values worth embracing openly.

Ebenezer Scrooge suffers misrepresentation as a miser. His wealth arises from honest effort, voluntary exchange, and refusal to live at others’ expense. Condemnation of him reveals envy of achievement, not moral failing. True generosity emerges from personal gain, not forced sacrifice.

Altruism promises virtue but delivers hidden costs. Mandating service to others treats individuals as means to ends, undermining genuine relationships built on mutual benefit. Even well-intended giving can humiliate recipients or mask power plays.

Peace on Earth remains elusive because rising prosperity sometimes fuels conflict, and aid can breed resentment rather than harmony. Reason, not sentiment, offers the clearest path forward.

Challenging these holiday myths while affirming life and achievement feels just right.

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034 – Pope vs individual salvation

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Dec 132007
 

car air bag

Reality anchors thinking far more securely than chasing abstract truth ever could. Philosophers from Plato onward demonstrate how easily fixed doctrines detach from evidence, producing rigid positions that ignore contradictory facts. John Macmurray’s insight captures this perfectly: real thought welcomes revision as experience demands it.

Government overreach reveals similar unreality in public debates. Taser controversies fixate on the device’s “safety” rather than proper use and policy. Car regulations escalate the pattern—bans on smoking with children, mandatory seatbelts, even airbag mandates that carry hidden lethal risks in certain crashes. Statistics show airbags save lives yet also claim others, particularly when deployed improperly. Mandating such devices overrides personal choice under the guise of protection.

Pope Benedict’s encyclical challenges modern Christianity’s emphasis on individual salvation, contrasting it with earlier communal approaches. This critique echoes collectivist themes that downplay independent reason. Hope, too, comes under scrutiny—when it substitutes for action, it paralyzes rather than empowers.

Japan’s robotics surge offers a forward-looking contrast, with Toyota and Honda developing humanoid machines for everyday assistance. These innovations highlight economic and technological shifts worth watching closely.

Exploring these intersections of philosophy, policy, and progress proves consistently illuminating and just right.

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033 – Falling in love with robots?

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Nov 292007
 

Taser

Emotional bonds form between humans and machines in ways once confined to science fiction. Robotic vacuum cleaners known as Roombas now receive names, personalities, and even family-like affection from owners. Researchers add cartoon expressions to these devices, triggering reactions that blur lines between tool and companion. Consumer products gain human traits—smiling car grills or friendly cell phones—to boost sales and attachment. Such developments signal a future where robots integrate deeply into daily life, raising profound questions about humanity itself.

Scientific frontiers expand alongside these trends. Astronomers uncover a vast empty region in space, a billion light-years wide, devoid of galaxies or stars—dismissed by some as mere accident, yet challenging assumptions about cosmic order. At CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, delays mount in the quest for the Higgs boson, the so-called “God particle” that explains mass itself. Einstein’s relativity receives further confirmation through precise atomic experiments, affirming time dilation at high speeds.

Current controversies demand scrutiny too. Tasers, promoted as life-saving alternatives to firearms, instead enable expedient avoidance of physical confrontation, with accountability evaded when victims’ conditions bear blame. Canada’s infrastructure crumbles—bridges, roads, and water systems past service life—while political deflection and misplaced priorities exacerbate the crisis. The eternal left-right divide clarifies: involuntary collectivism versus voluntary freedom, force versus persuasion.

Television offerings provide lighter escape, from the fast-paced comedy of Chuck to the moral depths of Moonlight. All these threads weave a tapestry of insight that lands just right.

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032 – TV Dead? Writers Strike Laughs

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Nov 222007
 

television

Technology transforms how audiences experience television, yet the medium itself endures as a vital force in entertainment and ideas. Viewers now record shows on DVDs, skip commercials, and watch entire seasons at their convenience—practices that challenge old broadcast models while proving television’s adaptability. Scripted dramas and comedies face disruption from the ongoing writers’ strike, but reality programming and reruns cannot replace the depth of well-crafted stories.

Ayn Rand’s defense of television as a democratizing invention rings truer than ever, bringing drama, news, and shared cultural moments to millions. From timeless Star Trek reflections to current hits like Heroes and surprising gems like Moonlight, quality programming stimulates thought and emotion in ways passive scrolling never matches. The strike highlights tensions over digital royalties and fair compensation, raising questions about who benefits from evolving distribution.

Tune in to hear sharp insights on these shifts, from personal viewing habits to industry trends, all underscoring television’s resilience against predictions of obsolescence. Entertainment this engaging and relevant hits the mark just right.

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031 – Philosophy: Who Needs It? Who Hates It? Who Cares?

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Nov 152007
 

Ayn Rand

Philosophy remains the unseen foundation beneath every decision, conflict, and cultural trend, yet countless individuals dismiss it as abstract, irrelevant, or even dangerous. Avoidance often stems from its association with defeat—witness how athletes and politicians turn “philosophical” only after losing—or from the proliferation of destructive ideologies that overshadow the valid ones.

Origins trace back to ancient Greece, where Socrates pioneered dialectic, Plato championed timeless ideals in a dualistic reality, and Aristotle grounded forms within the material world, embracing objective existence and the golden mean. Modern thought finds its sharpest defender in Ayn Rand’s Objectivism, which elevates reason and reality above all. Her analogy of the mind as a computer proves particularly illuminating: garbage in, garbage out. Default on conscious programming, and random or alien ideas seize control, manifesting as unpredictable emotions.

Contemporary trends fare poorly under scrutiny. Pragmatism discards fixed standards for fleeting practicality. Linguistic analysis reduces truth to arbitrary words. Existentialism plunges into nihilistic despair, portraying a hostile universe devoid of purpose.

True freedom emerges not from anarchy’s chaotic faith in voluntary order—which crumbles without enforcement—but from the absence of coercion, safeguarded by objective laws and limited government. Anarchy invites gang warfare; freedom demands protection of individual rights.

These distinctions clarify why philosophy cannot be ignored—it programs the subconscious and directs human action. Approaching these ideas with reason and evidence feels just right.

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