The Straw That Might Break The Camel's Back

That is to say, if the Harper Tories knuckle under to Quebec's demand to fund a hockey stadium in Quebec City it may well be their final act driving me to vote 'none of the above' in the upcoming Election.



I turned to blind eye to their casting Canada unnecessarily into deficit position - some 50 - 60 billion dollars per annum.



I turned a blind eye to their adding to the civil service some additional 30k employees.



I turned a blind eye to their declaring 'nation status' for Quebec and,



I turned a blind eye to their doing nothing to rein in the authoritarian Human Rights Commissions



However this Proposal would just about do it for me.



If it comes to pass that is and I truly hope it will not but suspect it will.



How can a Conservative Government rationalize helping fund a Private Sports facility where young prima donnas are grossly overpaid and where owners are unduly enriched; at the same time while running a massive deficit?



As a self professed Libertarian it is relatively easy for me, philosophically, to vote 'none of the above' because for the most part I see the major Parties as being Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.



I am not saying conclusively that I will not vote Tory should they succumb to this nonsense but the odds are most favourable that that is exactly what I will do.



And I will make you a promise that in a Future Blog should the Tories go down that road - I will disclose to you how I voted.



As I see it...



'Galagher'

What's Going On in the Middle East Dad?

When writing these Blogs I often approach them as if I were explaining some facet of current events to my three adult children, who readily admit that they are not always up-to-speed on what's going on in the World.



So let's do the same with the recent events in North Africa especially in regard to Egypt.



Its current Dictatorial Government of Hosni Mubarak is under siege and in fact has collapsed awaiting a replacement.



And this is good? ... my children may say.



Not really, I reply.



Egypt as well as all other countries in Northern Africa are dictatorships save for Israel. Thus being a dictatorship is in keeping with the Region and as such, it is most unlikely their peoples are ready for democracy.

In fact, I predict that when the dust settles, no democracy will have been established.


Which means of course that Mubarak's Government will be replaced by some other form of Tyranny: either by another Dictator supported by their Military or by the Muslim Brotherhood which will install an extreme form of Theocracy similar to what is in place in Iran.

We can only hope for another Dictator and one that leans to benevolence.


Where we in the West have been remiss is in not working more closely with dictators like the Shah and like Mubarak to help set the stage for true democracy - to educate their citizens, establish truly democratic parties and build needed institutions such as a vibrant judicial system to insure the Rule of Law.

When I think of that weak kneed President, Jimmie Carter and how he let down the Shah and allowed the much more wicked Ayatollah to replace him my blood pressure rises.

And now we have another weak Leader in Barack Obama allowing the same to happen in Egypt. Hopefully, as I have said, it will not be the Muslim Brotherhood that will win out but that is truly in the hands of the Egyptian Military - not Obama's nor even in the hands of its citizens in the streets. The latter are mere pawns for a more sinister battle going on behind the scenes.

I have told you about Haiti in past Blogs and how I see it would take some 20 years of Martial Law to set the stage for true Democracy to win out. Egypt is not the basket case that Haiti is but it too requires a period of peace and order to see Democracy triumph and under the current conditions I do not see this happening.


And then we have Lebanon - once an Oasis in a desert and now ruled by the Terrorist Organization Hezbollah. Poor Israel finds itself wedged between these two countries - Egypt and Lebanon. Here I cast blame on Ronald Regan who fled Lebanon at the first sign of crisis during his term in office. Hezbollah would not have been in power today had Regan stood and fought. And the Christians would still be in the majority.

And Bush - and more lately Obama for giving Iran as pass. The day is quickly coming - if it is not already too late - when Iran has the capability to destroy Israel with Atomic Bombs. Once they have it - it will be too late, as we've seen in the case of North Korea.

There are others on the side lines watching how this will play out; Tunisia and Jordan for instance and if the Ayatollahs win out in Egypt you can expect those countries to follow in lock step. A Northern Africa united under Islam and in control of much of the world's oil will soon put the squeeze on all of us. They are dedicated to seeing our way of life end and they will have the resources to see it happen.



The Bible speaks about the end of the World beginning with war in the Middle East and just maybe this is the time it was speaking about.

As I see it..

'Galagher'

Why So Hard On The Tories?

A few folks have written in since my last Blog querying why I am so hard on the Tories - what about the Libs and the NDPers?

The short answer is that I have long ago lost hope for those two left leaning - high spending and rights trampling Parties.

That's Why.

In regard to the Conservatives - I see them as the lesser of evils - they too lean to the Left - but not quite as far.

As you will likely know, I am looking for a true right of centre Party - preferably Libertarian but certainly one that respects individual rights and taxpayers dollars.

I often wonder when politicians - of all stripes - announce some tax spending initiative - would they still do so if their own money was tide to the venture.

In that regard we all would be better off if we gave each Politician $1 million dollars at the beginning of their term and each time they voted for a spending initiative they would lose a certain percentage of that amount. At the end of their term they could personally keep whatever remained. It would certainly insure that any voting measure voted for had the total fiscal and moral backing of that particular Member.

So to sum up - I support the Tories until a true Conservative Party comes along.

This Country can afford nothing less.

As I see it...

'Galagher'

Conservative's Vulnerable Under Belly...

Harper and his fellow Tories seem to be on a roll but they do have a few striking vulnerabilities which could rob them of their of long sought after Majority.

The first relates to their Law and Order Agenda.

Crime is down, policing is up and cops support their claim for more resources on a per capita basis - i.e. as the population increases, they believe more officers are needed despite the fact that there is much less crime per capita.

Prison populations are bulging despite that fact that approx. 50% of inmates are in for non-violent crime and yet the Tories want to spend more money on prison expansion. We cannot afford it!

Simply stated - the Conrad Blacks of this world do not belong in jail - that only costs us the taxpayer more. Rather - take away their money and other valuable assets - strip them of their boardships and corporate positions - place ankle bracelets on them - even sandwich boards if you will, but keep them out of jail. Make them do Community Service. Jails are nothing more that finishing schools for criminals and it benefits us all to keep the non-violent as far away from them as is possible.

Jail, when it is used, should only be used for violent offenders to keep the public safe and punishment for these violent offenders needs to be much more severe on the basis that the longer they are behind bars - the safer the public is. Hopefully by the time they get out their tendency toward violence will have burned itself out with age.

Military Spending

The second area where I see the Tories as being vulnerable is with respect to spending billions of dollars on our military.

Canada is at best a medium power - our population of 33 million ranks at the lower end scale of nations. Added to this is the fact that we have the second largest land mass in the world. This all means that we have to carefully budget and plan for our military needs. Search and Rescue, Coastal Surveillance, Ice-breaking and such needs to take priority.

The latest in jets and other specialty air craft are just too expensive for us and as their predecessors have shown - are often under utilized.

We do need aircraft but why not use cost effective Drones or relatively new American cast-offs.

As I said, it comes down to dollars and cents. Britain the second power in NATO recently had to make severe cuts in it military - e.g. 25% due to its growing debt. Here in Canada we too have a growing debt - $600+ Billion and we have to get serious about getting it down. The day is quickly coming when even our neighbour to the South will have to bite the bullet - so to speak - and cut their own military.

Attack Ads

This brings me to the third and final main area where I see their vulnerability.

In the unofficial election campaign within which we now find ourselves, the Conservatives have once again fallen back on negative ads - that is to say - attack ads on the personalities of the Opposition Leaders.

Studies pretend to show that such ads work - and they very well may - but I cannot stand them. I see them as the last refuge of a rouge.

With all the legitimate issues our country and indeed the world now faces - war, economic melt down, numerous serious societal pressures - I see it as a cop-out for our Politicians to try to skate around these issues through personalty attacks.

It diminishes the public perception of our politicians, assuming that is still possible, and takes all of our eyes off what is really important.

As I see it...

'Galagher'

A Human Rights Commission Does It Again..

And This Time They Really Do It.... They took away one of our most fundamental rights - the Right to Free Speech.

You may have read about this recent decision of the Human Rights Commission of Quebec levying a fine of $12k against an individual for calling his neighbour a derogatory name for a Gay Person. Speaking as a lawyer, the ramifications of this Ruling is truly disturbing.

Some facts on this case which really matter little other than for general interest.

According to Lt. Col. (ret'd) Rusk, his Neighbour nearly ran over his son while playing ball hockey on the road. He claimed the Neighbour was driving in a totally reckless manner.

Lt. Col Rusk thereupon expressed a word to the Neighbour which the Neighbour found objectionable. We would find the world objectionable as well.

Neighbour takes Rusk to Criminal Court where the case is thrown out since to that point, Free Speech was allowed in our Society. It is indoctrinated in the American Constitution and here in Canada was initially brought into legislation by John Diefenbaker's 1960 Bill of Rights and then subsequently codified in our own Constitution via Pierre Trudeau's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

(As an aside - the one area of difference between the Diefenbaker Bill and the Trudeau Charter was with respect to the inclusion of Enjoyment of Property Rights - it is included in the former but not the latter. Trudeau, as a Socialist, had difficulty entrenching that right for the benefit of our citizens).

Now back to Freedom of Speech. Prior to protection in legislation, the Right to this Freedom was ingrained in the English Common Law indeed it along with Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Assembly were the corner stones of our Society.

Then along comes a Quasi Judicial Human Rights Body that Rules against One of those very Corner Stones - The Right to Freedom of Speech.

And Ladies and Gentlemen, we are not talking here about things said on Radio or TV - we are now talking about what an individual may say in his or her private life. The fact that such comments may not be palatable to the ordinary person is not the issue since Freedom of Speech by definition should be without restriction unless serious death or injury is apt to occur (e.g. yelling our 'fire' in a crowded theatre).

To be truly Free - Speech cannot nor should not always be sanitized.

And yet that is precisely what we have with this recent decision. Political Correctness is an attempt to have done what this decision does but it does not have the Commission's power of enforcement. That is to say we as citizens are free to voluntarily accept Politicial Correctness but are compelled to follow Quasi Judicial powers to fine and imprison.

This is decision represents a Sad Day for Freedom and Democracy but more sadly, it is another in a long lis of our diminished Rights.

As I see it...

'Galagher'

Ontario's Green Energy Program Gets More and More....

Mouldy.

Okay forget for a minute that the Province is paying a special few 80 plus cents a KWH and that those folks can buy that same power back for a tenth of the price. As if..

Forget even the Hydro Monstrosity that has been built to blunder and waste. There are now so many individual components of Hydro all charging their different rates that it is virtually impossible to keep the players straight.

But forget all that.

The fact remains that the ordinary consumer is seeing his Hydro costs double and triple with no end in sight for future double digit increases. This along with increased HST, Environmental Fees, other Provincial and Municipal fees etc etc.

But Dear Reader, there is a neat answer to this in regard to the cost of Hydro.

As has been reported in an earlier Blog and in the news, Ontario could purchase all the Energy it needs from our neighbouring provinces of Manitoba and Quebec for a very reasonable 5 - 6 cents per kwh. At such a cost, there would be no need for the doubling and tripling of Hydro Bills.

Why is this not being done? McGuinty and his lackies at Queen's Park state that they are going the Green Route to position Ontario for the future. Some positioning. This is the same bunch that brought Ontario to its knees as a Have-not Province for the first time in the History of Confederation. Even Bob Rae was not successful in doing that.

Plus what can be more greener than Hydro (read water) Power from our neighbouring provinces? Nothing.

But to top things off, it has now been reported that we are selling our surplus Green Power to Quebec and the USA at not only a loss, but at prices less than 5- 6 cents per kwh.

In December alone the loss incurred by Ontario for such sales exceeded $50 million.

What to do?

I know - you'll say vote McGuinty and Co. out but that is a year away and there is no telling what Hudak and his PCs will do if and when they replace him.

We need to write / call / visit our MPP representatives and let them know what we think of this stupidity.

We need to write letters of complaint to the local newspapers and voice our concerns on radio talk shows.

Will we? Not likely.

Will McGuinty get replaced at year end? Quite Likely.

Will Hydro Rates go down? Not likely.

As I see it...

'Galagher'

When is a Mentally Deranged Person ...Deranged?

When he is Mentally Deranged.

Like the poor chap in Arizona.

He killed 6 people and badly wounded several more including a Congress Women - but the fact remains, he was and is mentally deranged.

Classmates speak of him as a loner - who laughed out loud for no apparent reason. Teachers called him unbalanced and eventually had to expell him from school.

Liberals though call him politically motivated and affected by the current 'acrimonious political environment' in the United States as if he was in some way capable of some reasonable thought.

He wasn't - he was and continues to be severely mentally disturbed and in desperate need of psychiatric care.

But the Liberals conveniently overlook that fact and gleefully lay the blame on Palin, Beck and the Tea Partyers.

Had this massacre occurred differently - say in a school or shopping centre - these same Liberals would be calling for greater hand gun control and in that regard- they would be correct.

In the vast majority of US States (80% +) - citizens cannot be denied hand guns. In only 3 jurisdictions - DC, Illinois and Indiana are they not allowed. That should be the focus along with psychiatric screening.

We see the effects daily here in Ottawa of mentally unbalanced persons living on the streets. In times past, they were given protection and care but due to governments' liberal attitudes these poor folks have been let loose to fend for themselves despite the fact that they are not able to do so.

Mental illness is not a hidden illness - it manifests itself in public and in cases such as the poor chap in Arizona. Why was he not offered help - even enforced help while a student? Why does it always take a tragedy before something is done?

I will tell you why - it does not fit the Liberal mould despite the fact that everyone suffers especially the mentally ill themselves.

But back to the Liberals and Arizona.

They are scared. They do not want to see the average citizen - "the great unwashed" actively involved in the political process. If that were to happen, it would spell serious trouble for the Left's vocal minorities who have been successfully able hijack the political agenda for so long - Democrat and Republican alike.

So they use tragedy's such as Arizona, to undermine the growth of groups such as the Tea Party.

From my perspective though, their attempts to discredit the Tea Partyers (TP) will back fire and will only serve to energize.

Why you might ask?

It comes back to dollars and cents - the USA is broke and is in desperate need of some tough fiscal medicine and the olde liberal guard is simply not up to providing it. Indeed, many on the Left seem to be hell bent on bringing the US to financial ruin, while the Chinese are smiling all the way to the bank.

As I see it...

'Galagher'