Glenn Beck...

No Longer A Voice Crying In The Wilderness....





Earlier in the year, I said that Saturday August 28, 2010 would be an important date.





And it was.





Glenn Beck spoke to his followers - some 500,000 middle Americans - at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Never before in US history have so many middle of the road Americans come out in such fashion. All worried that their once great country is quickly going off track and thanks in large part to Glenn Beck they finally have a voice.





To many, Glenn Beck is still an unknown. Let me first tell you a little bit about who he is not:

• He is not a religious fanatic



• He is not a bigot



• He is not a Democrat nor even a Republican



• He is not a politician nor will he ever become a politician

Who is he then?

He is a concerned citizen worried to death about where his once great country is headed. (Many of us in Canada share his concerns for our own country).

Beck also has his own program on Fox News every night at 5 pm est and through the vehicle of television has developed a huge following among Middle Class America. Dare I say, he has become the most popular person in all of the US. At the same time, he has become his country's most unpopular person. Revered on the Right; hated by the Left.

As noted in earlier Blogs, the United States is split 50 / 50. The Leftist Elites and their unquestioning followers on one side and ordinary Americans - the ones who work 9 to 5, raise their families, pay their taxes and go to church on the other side.

In Canada, I believe the same breakdown to be closer to 66 /33 given our more Socialist bent.

Okay - Why all the doom and gloom Galagher? We have it pretty good here in Canada and in the United States -do we not? Food on the table, decent jobs, good roofs over our heads, kids well educated and so on. Why the Scare Tactics?

I concede that we do in fact have life pretty good and indeed it is my fervent wish that it remains so.

But - here it comes - the BIG BUT - my big concern is that everything of importance which we have known since the end of the Second World War is turning itself upside down and inside out. What was Black is now White. What was Right is now Wrong and so on. The question for me becomes can we hold on to what we have gained over the last 200 years and more or are we doomed to lose it like the Romans did in their time.

Let's look as some of these important changes:

• Nuclear Proliferation is probably the most important change since its inception in 1945. Nut Bars like China, Russia, Pakistan, North Korea and too soon - Iran- have the Bomb. It is only a matter of time before one of the lesser lights in that sterling line-up push the button to eventual oblivion.

• Related to the first, will be Al Qaeda getting its hands on enough radio active material to launch a hand-held nuclear device. You can bet that New York City and London will be their Targets of Choice.

• Governments, at all levels, are getting larger - much larger. They are intruding into most aspects of our lives to the point where we are losing our independence. I like to say, it started with Mandatory Seat Belt Wearing. Whatever, the Cradle to Grave Philosophy now so apparent in the West, has seriously diminished our independence and has impaired our ability to challenge the Ruling Elites.



• Taxes are ever increasing to pay for this grossly expanded Government and its various follies (e.g. the Green Movement). The ordinary person has come to his or her wits end with taxes, fees, taxes on taxes and related charges and sur charges. This has only served to indebt the individual to Government even more and in so doing has emasculated the population in general.



• Terrorism of all kinds is running rampant throughout the world; Genocide is being carried out with impunity in Africa; Drug Lords Rule; Human Traffickers and Smugglers are coddled; Petty Little Dictators prey on their own People while We in the West stand helplessly by. We have lost the Will to do what is needed to put a stop to these Tyrannies.



• Freedom has indeed become another word. In Truth, it has become Lost. Security Measures following 9/11 have only been successful in treating all of our citizenry as criminals. Kangaroo Human Rights Courts stomp on the very Human Rights they are there to protect. We are constantly being poked and probed. Legislation, Regulations, Rules and Policy have piled up so fast that it is difficult for us to Breath. Courts have assumed the Role of our Guardians and have used the Charter of Rights to replace Government. Government by the Majority has been replaced with Government by the Minority.



• Government Debt has gone off the Charts. In reality, the US is flat broke. Some Wag is quoted as saying that even Canada - should only be described as the Healthiest Horse in the Glue Factory. Harper and Co. have also run up greater deficits than at any time in our history. His program spending in the few years he has been in power has doubled. What Pray Tell are we to do when our money is worthless? Gold is not going to record levels for nought and don't think for a moment that Gold is the answer - when Gold replaces Paper Currency and it most likely will, there will be Hell on our Streets.



• Our Media is mostly controlled by the Left - at least America has Fox News. It used to be that CBC took any flack there was from the right but now, from my perspective, CTV is just as bad or even worse. In sum, our population is being brainwashed daily by our major outlets. (Oh to have the Toronto Telegram and the Ottawa Journal back). So our Governments and our Courts no longer work for us the People and our Media no longer provides a desperately necessary arms length, objective perspective.



• To top it off, we have become a Social Welfare State - bought by our own money. Stats indicate that one in six Americans receive government assistance, unemployed receive benefits for up to 2 years. I am not sure of the numbers on government assistance here in Canada but I suspect, given our Socialist Nature - they would be even higher. And this only serves to promote lethargy and takes needed money away from an economy in desperate need of it to create more jobs and more wealth.
• And then we have migration. Stats from the United Nations state that upwards of 50 million persons are on the move around the world to find a better country in which to live. Canada, per capita, accepts the more refugees by far than any other Western Nation. Average numbers total some 40 to 50 thousand per year. This is in addition to the 200,000+ that come to Canada via the normal immigration channels. These immigrants and refugees for the most part come from the third world and tend to congregate in our major cities. They are causing a net drain on our country's GDP. I fully understand the moral issue that is attached to immigration but it is also important that Canadians understand the economic issues as well. Simply stated, if these numbers continue, our standard of living will be negatively affected. The answer is to revamp our Immigration System to ensure that those coming to Canada are a net economic benefit and through this, we will be able to provide more help to those in need throughout the world.

To me though the scariest part of our moral and economic decline is in regard to the Rest of the World. For Centuries Great Britain maintained world order, since WW I, America has performed this role. We all have benefited from this. Now though we are experiencing a transition. America's days of being number one are ending. As noted above, America is broke, and ever increasingly lacks the will to do what is necessary to retain the mantle of World Policeman. Soon it will be replaced by the powers in South East Asia - notably China and to a lesser extent India.

Glenn Beck offers us the chance to delay that Transition.

As I see it...

"Galagher"

Solzhenitsyn...A Most Unappreciative Guest

First, I apologize to you in advance for another rather 'heavy duty' Blog.







This may surprise you; I do try to avoid 'heavy' but there seems to be no escape from it - the world as we used to know it back in the 'good olde 60s' has completely turned on its head. What was right then is wrong now.








What got me started on today's rant is an article I came across recently about the late Russian Writer & Philosopher Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn, as you will recall, exposed to the world the Russian forced labour camps through his two most famous writings - The Gulag Archipelago and One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich.






At the end of WW II he was imprisoned in these forced labour camps for being critical of the way in which Stalin conducted the war. He was not released until 1956 - some 10 years later.





As such, I believe it is safe to say that he was an expert on Totalitarianism.



To make a long story short - at least this portion of the story, he visited the USA for an extended period of time in the late 1970s and in 1978 was the recipient of an honourary degree from Harvard.





In his commencement address that day, his topic was 'A World Split Apart' and students and faculty alike sat back prepared to listen to him castigate the Soviet Union. To their amazement the subject of his scorn was the very United States which had welcomed him to its bosom.





Here are some of his comments from that day long ago:

• The Western World has lost its courage and its Leadership is mediocre;





• The West is guilty of blind arrogance, of material abundance coupled with spiritual poverty;





• That Security, brought about by Western Capitalist Welfare States, is both addictive and enervating;





• He pointed out the Mendacity of our Media and the Decadence of our Art.

In sum, he bemoaned the fact that the gift of freedom had been abused and debased in the West.

Those present had not expected this from their guest - indeed, they had thought he would be thankful for being granted time in their great country. They were sadly mistaken.

Looking back from our vantage point today it is not surprising that Solzhenitsyn spoke out the way he did. Here was a man who had looked into the Jaws of Hell for 10 long years and accordingly, was not about to sugar coat his beliefs for the sensitivities of his Host Country.

The only question I am left with is just what he would think of the state of things today - some 30 years later?

Although Solzhenitsyn is no longer with us I did come across two columnist of late who I believe may just be able to speak on his behalf albeit without the Great One's forcefulness.

David Warren in his Article 'Before the Deluge', speaks about an "impending catastrophe in almost every direction". In the "World at Large" he notes, "tyranny is almost everywhere advancing ...while our ability to rise to each potential crisis is diminishing".

His article then goes on to examine the terrible financial state that our Free World Leader - America finds itself. These Debts and Deficits have not only resulted in Big Government, but more importantly, he notes, has resulted in its Citizens having become mere vassals of the State - so dependent on its Welfare that they have lost the ability to Act and Think Independently.

The Second Article I would like to Reference is by Ken Gray entitled 'The New Abnormal'.

Gray continues on the same Theme. "If people ever begin worrying about the $13 Trillion public debt, it might not hurt to start patrolling the edges of your property with a rifle".

He continues with a review of the terrible financial stats.

• US Debt is 89% of GDP



• it has been increasing annually by $500 billion since 2003



• in 2009 alone it increased by $1.9 Trillion

Sooner of later he notes that both government and individuals will have to get their "debt under control" but this will mean an end to artificial stimulus. And this coupled with the Boomer Retirement will mean that economic activity will tank for many years to come.

So what does all this mean for you and I?

The US will no longer be able to fulfill its role as World Leader. That Role will pass by default to China.

The West has been unable to contain Terrorism to now - under the New World Order it will be less and less able to even try.

There is an answer though and it lies deep inside each of us. A return to basic values of truth, honour and integrity. We have seen an example of this - this past weekend where Glenn Beck brought half a million ordinary Americans to the Lincoln Memorial to pray for the courage to do just that. It is a start - indeed a bid start and I will be writing more on this in later Blogs.

Suffice to say, Beck has been universally put down by the liberal left but then again, Christ was the subject of scorn some 2,000 years ago. I am not for a minute equating Beck with Christ - I am only pointing out that to be scorned by the Leftist Elites

Death of the Long Gun Registry....

It looks as though a final vote will taken within weeks on the Tory Private Member's Bill designed to kill the Long Gun Registry and put it out of its misery.

This issue comes down to the Rural / Urban Divide. Rural Canadians want it - Urban Canadians do not. As a resident of Ottawa - albeit Rural Ottawa, I fall into the former camp. I also own firearms.

Firearms for Rural Canadians are simply tools - like pitch forks and tractors. Even here on the outskirts of Ottawa we co-exist with coyotes, wolves, fox, fishers and the odd bear. It is nice to have a weapon to help dispatch them if they get too bothersome. A couple of years ago a deer got caught up in one of our fences and badly broke its leg to the point that it could no longer walk. At the time I owned just a 22 cal rifle and I was not sure it would do the job of humanely putting the animal out of its misery. I called a local hunter who was fortunately home and did the deed. We had also called the humane society, the vet, the police and the conservation officers first - but none were willing to get involved.

So to me there is a need.

But more important, there is not a need for the Registry itself. It is just a monumental waster of taxpayers' money.

Gun owners are already Registered. In order to purchase long rifles and ammunition - you must first have an Acquisition Permit and as such - you are registered. So when the Police Chiefs say they need to know if firearms are present before they enter a residence - this information is and has been available to them for some time. The registration of firearms is, in other words, a redundant activity.

It is also a very emotional topic. Born out of the Polytech Massacre in 1989 - it was a knee jerk - feel good initiative designed simply to placate the residents (voters) of Montreal. In so doing it rang up over $2 billion in costs. Police Chiefs say today that the costs are a mere $4 million a year to run the program and if you believe that I have a swamp....

The average cop knows the folly of the Program and if truth be told - so do their Chiefs. But may I suggest that their Leadership's position is less about safety and more about bulking up their resources from the public purse (i.e. in much the same way as their war on drugs which they have been losing from day one).

At this point it looks like enough NDPers will support the Tories in 3rd and final reading and hopefully this boondoggle will be behind us all.

As I see it..

'Galagher'

Green Thumb in the Dike...

a.k.a... Chicken Little on Steroids.


If the Elites of this Country and the World are to be believed, we are in the midst of an Environmental Collapse - one that is likely to destroy the world as we have known it.

And in that regard, you may well think that their little green thumbs are positioned to hold back the Apocalypse, but in reality they are holding back progress - progress necessary to ensure us all of a vibrant and healthy & happy future.

It comes down - as it always does - to an issue of power. The Greenies see an opportunity to inflict their will upon the majority, despite the disastrous consequences that follow. The Al Gores' of this world line their pockets while spouting doom and gloom all the while forcing the rest of us to do their bidding; to recycle, to turn the heat up and down; to use less, to drive less, eat less (e.g. meat) and so on.

Simply stated, it goes against the grain of our 5,000 years of history, a history that encourages a constant betterment of the individual's circumstance.


One of the Greenies' primary concerns centres on Global Warming and in particular the damage caused by Fossil Fuel Poisoning.

There is no doubt that fossil fuels are bad for the environment, there is also no doubt that until a satisfactory replacement can be found, we are stuck with them. Without fossil fuels our way of life would quickly come crashing down. What to do?


The Green Hornet to the Rescue:

• Eco Fees


• Wind Mills


• Solar


• Smart Meters


• Carbon Caps


• Carbon Trading, and the


• Greening of Taxes to pay for their folly.

All this serves to do, is impoverish the taxpayer who gets stuck paying all the bills attached to this nonsense. He or she will have to forgo many amenities to fund these silly but costly initiatives. In just the area of Hydro alone, Costs are in the process of tripling because the Greens are having taxpayers pay 12 times the going rate to producers of wind and solar power.

Every day, people are calling into the Chat Lines to say that they are in very real danger of losing their homes, their medicines, their dental care etc to these increased Green Costs.

If not the Greens ...then Who?

Why Capitalism, naturally. We desperately need the likes of Edison and Ford to bring their genius to the issue of finding a replacement to fossil fuels and the other serious environmental issues that confront us today. The Market has come through for us before and it will again if given the chance. Its focus is progress not cutting back and doing less with less.

Permit me to provide you with a recent example of what the private sector can do in the face of a very serious problem - Bed Bugs. These horrid little insects have become a plague in recent years in our large cities including in our beloved Capital City. Exterminators tell us that the problem stems from the fact that the Greens banned effective pesticides. Be that as it may, this week's papers tell us that an inventor has now come up with a way to "freeze" these little critters in an effective, cheap and environmentally friendly way. Now hopefully, the Greens are okay with the killing of Bed Bugs!

Had it been up to me, I would have kept the effective pesticides going until this alternate had been invented. It would have spared many a great deal of grief.

Here is the trick - don't tell the private sector what to build / invent- rather tell them what not to build / invent i.e. "do not produce a product that causes damage to the environment". Then let the private market do its thing. It could even mean continuing reliance on oil if it can be shown to the government's satisfaction that new developments can neutralize its injurious affect.

This regulatory / oversight role is what government should be all about.

What we have now are the Greenies telling us to do this, that and the other thing, knee jerking us into ultimate catastrophe.

Since the second half of the last century we reached the moon and beyond. There really are few limits to what is possible for mankind. Greenies are all about restrictions and limits and should therefore be swept up into the trash bin of history where they belong.

As I see it...

"Galagher"

Right of Centre Under Attack

You want to hold a demonstration - peaceful or not - and you are a native or a visible minority - be our guests.

You are Gay and want to put yourself on display - go to it.

You take your clothes off for PETA or any other politically correct cause - no problem.

But if you are are group seen to be right of centre - look out - the State will seek you out and destroy.

Take the Jaworskis for example.

This poor family is facing fines of up to $50,000 for - brace yourself - holding an annual 2 day Libertarian Think Tank on their rural property near Orono Ontario - south of Peterborough.

This nefarious event occurs each summer and hosts up to "a few dozen Libertarians" the likes of Randy Hillier and Jason Kenney. Can you imagine.
(see front page of the National Post August 19, 2010)

Ontario's Ministry of Health first tried to shut them down and when that failed they were charged for using their property as a "commercial conference centre". Yeah - 2 days per year - some conference centre.

It is hard to imagine the Province being so vigilante if the Jaworskis were using their property to hold annual retreats for the Liberal Party of Ontario!!

The Jaworskis emigrated to Canada from Communist Poland so they know first hand all about State Control. I am sure though that little did they think they were in danger of being the subject of such arbitrary action in their adopted nation.

If the Jaworskis are in danger of such arbitrary and discriminatory action - we are all in danger.

If Libertarians cannot hold unobtrusive get-togethers, Parties of All Stripes need to sit-up and take notice because in time they will all be eventually targetted.

As I see it...

"Galagher"

Lord Black of Crossharbour

As you know, I am a fan of Conrad Black.



He is his own man and continues to do it His Way: a take on Sinatra's famous song.



Anyway he is now out of jail and I do not see him ever having to return to incarceration.



As many have noted, I too believe the experience has had some benefit for him - again though, not to say he deserved it- he most certainly did not. But it did bring him in contact with those of much lesser ability and he was able to use his teaching skills to enhance their own.



I could talk about the injustice of what befell Lord Black but it has all been said and indeed I covered much of that in an earlier Blog.



But what stands out for me is how Black has been able to keep his individuality - his sense of self - in such troubling times. A lesser person would have been beaten down.



At a time when too many XYers walk around with earrings and necklaces, their hair tied up in pony-tails and sporting pink shirts and spandex, (how can they not help but be 'conflicted') - Black stands out like the quintessential man - the one that Rudyard Kipling was referring to in his famous poem (and my favourite) - IF:

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you but make allowance for their doubting too.

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating, and yet don't look too good nor talk to wise.


If you can dream and not make dreams your master, if you can think and not make thoughts your aim.

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same.

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken and stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools.

If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn of pitch-and- toss,

And lose and start again at your beginnings and never breathe a word about your loss.

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you, Except the Will which says to them 'Hold-on'.


If you can Talk with Crowds and keep your virtue or Walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you but none too much.

If you can fill the unforgiving minute with Sixty Seconds worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it -

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son*.

*Of note, Rudyard Kipling's son was killed in the Great War of 1914-1918.

In my books, Conrad Black is very much a Man.


As I see it...

'Galagher'

The Absolution of Helena Guergis

THE RCMP HAS JUST COMPLETED ITS INVESTIGATION OF THE HAPLESS HELENA GUERGIS AND HAS CONCLUDED THAT THERE ARE NO GROUNDS UPON WHICH TO CHARGE HER (ie. for the heinous unspecified crimes alleged against her by the PMO).

QUELLE SURPRIS !!

You may recall that I wrote about this matter back in April and at that time concluded that Ms. Guergis was being unfairly treated and, in my own words at that time, stated that dear Helena "has been given a bum rap." I went on to suggest that any investigation was unlikely to find anything of substance.

When I wrote the April column, all of the media and politicians of all stripes, were busy crucifying the dear lady. So I got it right - right of the bat.

I also said back in April that I did not think I would like Helena Guergis if I knew her - given her silly antics but that aside, she did not deserve the ill treatment handed out by so many - most notably by our Prime Minister.

He not only fired her from Cabinet, but kicked her out of Caucus and revoked her right to run in future Elections as a Conservative. All over nought.

Ms. Guergis has stated recently that she wants a 'face to face' with Harper to clear the air but I suspect strongly that he will never grant such a meeting even though that would be the decent thing to do since he has utterly destroyed her political career.

Harper should get down on his knees and apologize for his misguided wrath and pettiness but as Adlai Stevenson once so aptly put it - "Hell will likely freeze over first".

As I see it...

"Galagher"