Trevor Dailey's Weblog

Some say short-wave radio is dead. The Internet killed short-wave radio, they say. Who are they?

Although I listen to both podcasts and short-wave radio broadcasts, I do not combine short-wave with the Internet as others do. I did not purchase a short-wave radio receiver to plug it into the Internet. I do not need to pay a monthly subscription to listen to short-wave radio, nor do I need any kind of infrastructure to receive a short-wave radio broadcast. If needed, I am fairly confident I could build a homemade short-wave radio receiver with the electronics I can purchase easily at an electronics store, but I would not be able to construct a computer at home to connect to the Internet. The CRTC has no control over the short-wave broadcasts I can listen to, other than the time signal, all originating from outside of Canada. The CBC stupidly killed off its decades old international short-wave radio broadcast service a few years ago. Short-wave radio is difficult to jam, unlike the Internet that can be restricted with a few keystrokes. No one knows what I am listening to on short-wave radio, but I can be tracked while online. Short-wave radio has long been what the Internet claims itself is, and that is the meduim for those who value freedom.

The Internet and short-wave radio have their own advantages and disadvantages, but in spite of the advantages of the Internet over short-wave radio, I still prefer to stick with the magic of short-wave radio: receiving sound through the air from thousands of miles away.

Short-wave radio is returning to where is was before government used short-wave radio as a tool to fight the Cold War. It is returning to the hands of private broadcasters. With the case of Just Right Media, their Internet numbers began to climb after the show began broadcasting on short-wave radio.  

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 [short-wave] 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.

Just Right - December, 29, 2016

(c) Trevor Dailey

The conversation began with one of my coworkers commenting to another coworker that she received more pay than her because she worked more hours. True, the one coworker agreed, but it was because she came in an hour early some days, and her coworker was free to do the same. I cracked a smile thinking to myself that was right. The other coworker warned her she would get hit with a big tax bill for working so many hours. She correctly said the more one earns, the more the government takes, and implied that there was no sense in working past a certain point. The government penalizes one for working harder and earning more money.

It was payday, and the one coworker of mine began looking at her pay-stub. Things soon turned angry as she mistakenly interpreted a deduction of her pay being the $50 gift certificate some employees (not including me) received for Christmas. She thought the Company had deducted money from her paycheque. Other coworkers expressed outrage the Company would do such a thing, as they had also received the gift.  

After a few minutes, I spoke up, and I suggested the gift was considered to be income by the government, and it was being taxed. It seems I was correct. I briefly stated my opinion that taxing one’s income was vile. All seemed to agree, but another coworker said in the country she came from, I believe is a Central America country, the citizens were taxed more heavily than in Canada, and they received nothing. Here she spoke well of the taxes because she could see things like roads being built. She said the President of the country she came from stole money from the people. I understood, but I was disheartened by her comments.

What I wanted to tell her is theft is theft. There is no difference between a Central America dictator taking money by force from people, and the elected government of Canada taking money by force from its citizens. I wanted to tell her that socialism leads only to a place of death and destruction, and Canada is inching its way to that place with its slow adaptation of full socialism. I wanted to tell her Canada is creeping towards what she had left behind. I don’t think she, like most Canadians, would have believed any of what I said in spite of the historical and current record of evidence.

(c) Trevor Dailey   

“All Taxation Is Theft.” These words were printed across a man’s sweatshirt whom I happened to see in a store while I was shopping.

My recent paycheque was less than my previous two paycheques. At first, I thought there was an accounting mistake, and I was not paid what I had earned. Then I looked over my payslip.

The number of hours I had worked during the pay period was 83. During this pay period, I had not been asked to work an extra 4 hours on a Saturday, as I had been twice before. I had worked fewer hours; however, there was more to it than just this.

As one who works for a living knows, the more one works, the more one earns, the more the government deducts from one’s pay. As per usual, the government robbed me of some of my pay that I worked hard to earn. For what? The misleading “Employment Insurance” and the pyramid scheme, “Canada Pension Plan”. Then there is the “Federal Tax” that is not explained.

Year to date, the federal government has stollen 15% of my gross earnings. It was my money. It is gone. I have been employed at this job for 2 months now, and I am still struggling financially because the government steals my money that I work so hard to earn. Taxing a person’s income is definitely theft, and its practice should be abolished.  

(c) Trevor Dailey