539 – Radical Ruler: The legacy of Saul Alinsky

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Jan 182018
 

Saul Alinsky

As the author of 1971’s Rules For Radicals, were he alive today, Saul Alinsky would no doubt be pleased to see his own radical views and tactics resulting in progress for those on the Left – particularly his beloved Democratic Party.

Some of the Alinsky symptoms:

  • increased violence during political rallies
  • the growing intolerance of differing views on campuses
  • the polarization of political forces along lines of racism and the haves and have nots
  • the manufacture of fake news, and much more

    • All of these symptoms reflect the “rules” outlined in Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. Many attribute today’s decline in civilized political discourse directly to Saul Alinsky. His book has been often cited as a reason for the successes of Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

    As we share the opinions of Dinesh D’Souza, David Alinsky, and Ralph Benko as heard during a July 20/17 C-SPAN debate about Saul Alinsky’s radical rules, the controversy begins with the book’s opening epigram dedicated to the “first radical” – Lucifer. (After all, it is to Lucifer’s kingdom that the Leftward road of good intentions leads.) Continue reading »

    529 – Guest: Salim Mansur – Hugh Hefner and the Playboy legacy

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    Nov 022017
     

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    Hugh Hefner

    With the passing of Playboy founder and icon Hugh Hefner on September 27 at age 91, subsequent discussions about his legacy and the influence that Playboy continues to have today have been disappointingly reduced to a feminist debate about whether Hefner was a “liberator” or an “oppressor”.

    In stark contrast to the myopic discussions of sex usually heard in such a restricted context, our in-studio guest Salim Mansur brings a breath of fresh air to yet another discussion considered politically incorrect: the celebration of sex between men and women.

    Says Salim:

    Just as Freud pointed out, ultimately everything boils down to sex. The whole of life throughout history is ultimately about the primordial basic relationship between a male and a female. Out of that relationship comes great art, great music, great painting – and out of it also comes the dirtiest violence, misogyny, abuse, excesses. That’s life.”

    Continue reading »

    443 – Guest: Scott Williams-Oakes, Stand-up comedian, Author of Happy Trails

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    Mar 102016
     

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    Scott Williams-OakesTopics:
    00:03 Love letter: Happy Trails by Scott Williams-Oakes, crushing political correctness, story first – message second, Happy Trails – the book, pre-dystopian environment, how bad things have to get, a vision of the future – or the present, failed expectations, deteriorating economic conditions, collapse of government, love letter to Ontario
    17:30 Re-set: the Ontario of our future, how bad can bad get, violence no solution, Happy Trails – a story overview (no spoilers), a canary in the coal mine, a happy ending with unresolved issues
    33:50 Up against the Brick Wall: a brief history of ‘the Brick Wall’, using satire to criticize, pushing the envelope on the Brick Wall blog, every issue open to comment, a man with a mission, staring too long into the abyss, the jester, pointing out that the emperor wears no clothes, watching Rome burn
    47:25 End of the story: Atlas Shrugged – a Happy Trails parallel, pessimistic future, rising again from the ashes, filling the vacuum, a bleak future, operation of the machine requires freedom, the terrifying world of comedy, upcoming screen play 59:02 END — Promo to 59:42

    401 – Guest: William Gairdner – Author of The Great Divide

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    May 212015
     

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    William Gairdner

     
     
     
     

    Topics
    00:07 The Great Divide: clash between ideological forces, what’s beneath the surface, why liberals and conservatives will never agree, ideas vs politics, modern liberals vs classic liberalism, human nature, change agents, perfection, party politics, virtue liberals, individualism, equality liberals, from liberty to equality, sexual freedom, libertarian socialism
    18:55 Feeling blue about red: theory vs practice, Liberal and Conservative contradictions, prostitution politics, politician vs statesman, more democracy but less freedom, concept of the self, self discipline vs self gratification, self-esteem, duty, we world vs me world, choice vs the common good, pornography, freedom not a good in itself
    31:00 The great deviation: freedom as a guarantee of rights, freedom vs choice, the six freedoms, social beings, freedom as power, tyranny and democracy go hand-in-hand, the great deviation, society’s rights vs individual rights, libertarian position, the harm principle, individualism and the non-aggression principle, duties and obligations, conceptions of democracy, society and the next generations, rights – objective and subjective
    44:45 Conceit in the moral arena: freedom guaranteed by restraint, libertarian conservatives, social conservatives, fiscal conservative, individual vs social freedom, views on morality, morality as a language, principles and facts before debate, an increasingly closed society, eternal discussion and debate, Canada-US divide, Obama is America’s Trudeau, conceits

    382 – Bill Cosby – The two courts / Childhood’s End – Arthur C. Clarke revisited

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    Jan 082015
     

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    Bill Cosby

     
     
     
     

    Topics:
    00:07 The two courts: Bill Cosby in London, allegations against Bill Cosby, court of public opinion, court of law, presumption of innocence, political opportunism, Jane Piper
    19:20 Court of no defence: Megan Walker, Anne Bokma, Bill Cosby, Andy Oudman, court of law vs court of public opinion, courting no defence, lack of evidence, feminism and feminists, public lynching, reputation
    29:30 Childhood’s End – Arthur C. Clarke revisited: 2001-A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke, science and science fiction, retrospective view of earlier science fiction, Clarke’s view of humanity
    41:20 Heinlein vs Asimov vs Card: individualism vs collective, Robert A Heinlein’s view of the heroic man, Heinlein’s political views, Time Enough For Love, Isaac Asimov, Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game, audio books vs written word 54:50 END

    367 – Prohibiting drug prohibition / Teaching Johnny to Think ~ Leonard Peikoff

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    Sep 112014
     

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    Teaching Johnny to Think

     
     
     
     

    Topics:
    00:07 A call to prohibit drug prohibition: Global Commission on Drug Policy, United Nations, proposal to decriminalize all drugs, the King of Pot, Jimmy Cournoyer, Prince of Pot, Marc Emery returns to Canada
    15:45 Political pot shots? Or practical strategy? Jodie Emery, Liberal Party of Canada, principle and politics, all political parties break promises, left and right, philosophical vulnerability of Liberal Party, NDP, Thomas Mulcair and cannabis decriminalization, contradictions between objectives and strategies, the missing debate
    32:30 Why Johnny is Bored and Confused: teaching problems in the schools, Teaching Johnny To Think by Leonard Peikoff, teaching facts at the perceptual level, teaching at a conceptual level, integrated vs disintegrated model of schooling, disintegration, misintegration, integration through objective teaching
    44:45 Teaching Johnny to Think: five theories of education, classical theory, socialization theory, child centered theory, moral behavioural theory, cognitive theory, intrinsic vs subjective theories of cognition, objective theory of cognition, systematic process, reading, writing, arithmetic, mathematics, history, science, literature, little or no hope in public school system 55:22 END

    365 – Making book on the future / Froshing at the mouth

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    Aug 282014
     

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    UWO Gazette

     
     
     
     

    Topics:
    00:07 Making book on the future: civilization’s basic books, cook book – science book – philosophy book, future prediction, ideas and consequences, ideas in history, unhindering inquiry into the nature of the universe
    13:20 Idea-ology: power of the printed word, from the enlightenment to the present, preserving knowledge, paper vs data storage, cyberhumans, genetic engineering, utopian future vs bleak future
    26:40 Western Gazette delivers – an apology: Western Gazette frosh issue, Megan Walker, Andy Oudman, owed an apology, calls for resignation and apologies, Megan Walker’s bizarre demands, Megan Walker’s call for censorship, O-Week Drinking Game article, disturbing reactions to satire and humour, Big Bang Theory Drinking Game rules
    48:14 Froshing at the mouth: the Gazette articles that offended, how to date a teaching assistant, stalking on Facebook, drug advice, no sense of humour 53:07 END

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