Tea Party … One….

 

Wall Street Occupiers … Zero.

In the run-up to this year’s Presidential Election.

As you will know, I have absolute confidence in the fact that Mitt Romney will beat Obama at the Polls this coming November.

No President to date, has piled on the debt as has the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Yesterday, the Republican Governor of Wisconsin – a traditionally democratic state, was returned to power after the Unions successfully brought about a recall election.

The Unions were upset by the fact that Governor Walker had stripped the State’s Public Servants of the right to join them.  It is a position that I too support and would like to see implemented here in the governments of Ontario and Canada.

Simply stated, no one represents the taxpayer in government labour negotiations.  Unions want the moon – the politicians want labour peace  – and the money both are dealing with, is not their own.  It is and has been a recipe for disaster.

But let’s get back to Wisconsin.  Governor Walker was surprisingly elected in 2010 when the Democrats suffered a massive electoral reversal right across the country.  Pundits credited the Tea Partyers for seeing this reversal come about.

At that time, Governor Walker and his fellow Republicans found a State running an annual deficit of some $3.6 Billion Dollars.  Less than two years later, Wisconsin’s annual budget is now running a significant surplus.

The Unions, the Democrats, the Occupiers were livid.  Power was being taken away from them.  A Recall effort was launched and a sufficient number of signatures were secured, resulting in yesterday’s election.

The Left pulled out all the stops to see their vote turnout.  But so did the Tea Partyers.

When the dust settled – Walker was re-elected by a significant margin – and this, as mentioned, in an historically democratic state.

The moral of the story – if in an Election Year, the Democrats cannot maintain power in one of their own states – their chances of taking needed swing states, will be all the more difficult.

Bottom line – the writing is on the wall for President Obama.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

One School System Too Many…

 

And it is not the R.C. Separate System.

Many years ago, when I was engaged, I had the usual meeting with the Priest who was going to officiate at our wedding.  As an non-Catholic, he wanted to know if I had any objection to our future children being educated in the Catholic School System and I told him that I did object and provided him with the usual reasons why (e.g. one inclusive system etc etc).  What drivel.

At the end of our conversation – dare I say debate, the Priest confessed (pun?) that he agreed with me – to my great and pleasant surprise.

I wish though I could have that debate to do over since I now find myself in the opposing camp – simply stated, I think the Separate School System is the best thing the Province of Ontario has going in the field of education.

I continue.

My great belief in one consolidated school system lasted only until our family moved here to Ottawa in the 1980s.  The area we moved into had lots of social housing and thus the local public school had a very bad reputation. Since our children had come from a village, the whole move was a great culture shock for them;to put them into the public school environment, in our area, would have been nothing less than child abuse.  Our kids went to the Separate School.

Even so, I rationalized; Separate School was okay only in cases where the local public school had a bad reputation. 

But over time, I would be totally won over.

As the 80s drifted into the 90s and then the new millennia, society’s elite became more and more politically correct and this change was most evident in the public school system.  No more Christmas, no more Easter, no morning prayer.  Sikhs could wear their ceremonial daggers, Jews could wear their yarmulkes, Muslims could have their prayer areas but Christians could have nought.  Young girls could receive birth control advice and even advice on how to obtain an abortion without their parents’ knowledge.  The family –just a few years prior - called the ‘foundation of society’ was now totally redefined as was the definition of marriage and the public school system soaked up these developments like a massive sponge.

The only refuge, for our kids, became the Separate School System since it continued to stand for the values that many of us continue to hold dear but now, Premier McGuinty makes no secret of his intention to dissolve it.

To do so, he is using the guise of Bullying to try to embarrass the Catholic Church over its position on Homosexuality – i.e. that it is abnormal. Which of course it is.  But it is also true that the Catholic Church respects Heterosexuals and Homosexuals alike, we are all human beings equally entitled to respect and dignity.

But Dear Reader, the issue – like the pseudo issue of tuition increases for the Quebec Students – is not what’s at play here.  Simply stated, McGuinty wants to consolidate education into One Common School Board (two if you count the Francophone Board) and he will do whatever is necessary to achieve his misguided goal.

Let’s look first at the Bullying Issue.  Your own experience in life will tell you that there are many, many reasons why children get picked on: race, creed, deformity, mental disability, physique, personality …gay etc.  Indeed, polling supports you in your thinking since it too places bullying, due to sexual orientation, well down the list.  So why does the Premier focus on this one form of bullying to challenge the Catholic System, if his intentions were not otherwise sinister.  Nothing substantiates this more than his enforced committee name, as per Bill 13, the ‘Gay-Straight Alliances’.

Moreover, the Catholic Church is not opposed to having  Student Committees established to deal with the issue of Bullying, indeed many such committees already exist.  The Church suggests that the name for this committee be ‘Respecting Difference’ – a much more encompassing name than that proposed by the Liberal Government and a name I suggest that is much more in keeping with the problem of ending bullying itself.

So in my opinion, McGuinty really does not care about stamping out bullying, rather his intention is to stamp out the Separate School System and for that he has much public support – support that is as misguided, as mine once was.

So let’s forget about Bullying – since that is not the issue that is at issue here and let’s forget about the Catholic Separate System since it is only part of the issue – at issue here – rather let’s talk about Education itself – since this is what it all comes down to.

Many of us saw the article in the paper this week where government tried to run a Tim Hortons “to make some $300k a year” at one of its hospitals.  Rather than the expected profit – it lost nearly $300k.

Why are we not surprised?

And why would we entrust Government to run our Educational System – a System that in my humble opinion is the most important in society – exceeding even Health Care.

I entitled this Blog – One School System Too Many which is true in the sense that the current Public School System with all of its Political Correctness is broken and is in desperate need of fixing or deep sixing. But in truth, we need more School Systems to invoke competition and best practices into the mix.

From time to time the Voucher System has been talked about when it comes to educating our children – parents would receive a voucher and would assign it to whatever school / system they thought would provide the best education for their child.  New systems would flourish under this process and the current public school monopoly would be gone for ever.  Society would be the absolute beneficiary.

So why the big deal?  Government has run education from the beginning and we all more or less muddled through?

Dear Reader – Society has motored on from those days.  The Agricultural Era deferred to the Industrial Age and more recently that Age has been overtaken by the Knowledge Era.  Countries that best educate their citizens will win out.

With advances in travel, instant communications etc. the world is ever smaller and countries are no longer just competing with their neighbours.  They are competing with all others and the best educated will win out.

If you think Government is up to that challenge – go with McGuinty’s vision.  But if you have a realistic grasp of reality – go with mine.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

Be Happy … Don’t Worry

 

Dear Reader:

I had planned to do a Blog on this subject to set-out the many reasons why things are not as bad as they appear.  But then ..

The video killing / dismemberment occurred in all its gruesome detail.

Hard to be optimistic in the face of that.

Ergo – my Blog is postponed until further notice.

I do though want to do one concerning the Roman Catholic Separate School System since I am convinced its days are numbered should our (Ontario’s) distinguished Premier retain power.

Look for this next…

KDG

 

HAPPY MEALS ARE NOT WHAT THEY …

 

Used to be.

Not that they were ever anything to rave about.

Each week, I take my two grand kids to McDonald’s for dinner and have been doing so for some time.  Everytime, my grandson Patrick orders a Happy Meal because he is still of an age where he likes to get the toy of the week lodged inside the the Happy Meal Box.  Something like Cracker Jacks used to do for you older folks, like me.

Anyway, it works for McDonald’s because it certainly is not due to the quality of the food inside the box.  A meagre looking hamburger, along with a small folder of fries and a shot glass size paper cup for a soda.  Plus the toy of course.

But this week things had noticeably changed.  At least they did when we finally sat down at one of their most uncomfortable tables.

Patrick had ordered his Happy Meal as per usual and on opening the box, immediately complained that his fry order was greatly reduced in size.  His sister Kristen suggested that he must be mistaken but then she and I looked inside his box and saw at the bottom some 5 to 6 lonely fries.  That was it – his total fry order.  In place of the missing 20 or so fries was a tiny little container of yogurt which could be totally consumed by one small spoonful – two at the most.

McDonalds, you can see, has got up with political correctness – healthy is in.  So now in place of lousy food, you get even lousier but a little more healthy food.

Patrick looked dejected, as well he might, until I promised him that I would include dessert with the evening’s fine dining. 

So much for eating healthier. Maybe McDonald’s took this into consideration when it adopted its apparent healthier approach.  Sly devils.

But it will do them no good.

I forget what Kristen ordered but I ordered the chicken mcnuggetts which tasted like dry sawdust and just as tough to eat.  Where do they get this stuff?

Well at least Patrick got his toy; but let me add, he is so attached to them that he customarily leaves them behind in my car.

I have the feeling that our days of McDonald’s eating are over.

Hurrah.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

It’s All So Very Exciting …

 

And so very scary…

Long time readers of this Blog will know that I have consistently stated that the era we are now in will be marked in history as a time of great protest; mainly violent protest.   We have seen this develop in the Middle East, in Europe, in the United States and even here in Canada.

More recently, we have seen tens of thousands of students march in the streets of Montreal each day ostensibly protesting against minor increases in tuition cost.  But it is not about that, despite the students’ protestations to the contrary.

And even the Wall Street Occupiers, backed by an out of touch President, cannot coherently define what their beef is either.

In Europe, the protestors are more focused; they do not like to see ‘their entitlements’ interfered with and boy are those entitlements quickly vanishing.

But there is a common denominator even if it is not apparent to those involved and that is fear.  They too have come to enjoy the welfare state and they can see it is in danger since our governments have spent themselves into oblivion.  They can see it, but are afraid to admit it.  And that is why little things like minor tuition hikes are blown out of proportion.

To compound things for these troubled youth is the fact that the bill for the last 50 years of proliferate spending is coming due and it will fall to them to make good on it.  Now that is indeed frightening prospect.

So they are inherently worried and yet, due to the scope of the problem, are not yet prepared to seriously confront what their gut is telling them.

And the Unions too are there with the Montreal students – tuition hikes mean nothing to them, but these wily unionists know that a fight of epic proportions is coming their way and they are duping the students into sacrificing themselves in the vanguard.  Pathetic and all ruled by fear.

Charest has not helped the situation, indeed his lack of action may well now lead to his losing total control.  Had he moved decisively at the beginning and jailed a few of the leaders the protest could have been defused.

But dear reader, regardless of what Charest did or did not do, his actions in the scheme of things means little.  The riots are here to stay and will over time continue to grow stronger as governments desperately try to reel in their spending.

I am saddened by this and particularly so for the innocents caught up in this nonsense.  But my real fear is that anarchists are using these protests as a cover in their attempts to bring down our way of life. History shows they have been successful in the past and every indication now shows that conditions are ever improving to see them come out on top once again.

Society’s one great hope is that its ‘silent majority’ grows a spine and comes to its rescue but, as time goes on, this will become more and more difficult. The fear, though, is that the silent majority has also become too used of its entitlements. 

I trust in God, and in our fellow men and do believe that in the final analysis, we will collectively have what it takes to do what is right.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

A Ph.D for Moonglow

 

At last, after a gillion years of study, Moonglow obtained her coveted ‘PH.d in the study of the endangered tar sands mouse’.

Her parents were in the audience when her Dean bestowed the award upon her and spoke the following well chosen words:

Moonglow, we in the faculty are so proud of you today, indeed, the fact that you chose such an important subject for your studies is only magnified by a report today that the last of the tar sands mice was killed by one of those dreaded monster dump trucks.  How could you have known when you began your studies, some gillion years back, that it would end this way; but you knew that this mouse was in danger and today’s news simply confirms it.  Let us all present give Moonglow a big hand for her prescience.

Moonglow’s mum and dad clapped loudest.  At this point, let the record show, that her father was not too pleased when their daughter ‘Bess’ decided several years back to take on the appellation ‘Moonglow’ “since it suited her better”. But that slight difference of opinion aside, he too was most pleased with her daughter’s triumph since she was the first ever in his extended family to attain such a high degree of learning.

After the glow (pun intended) had worn off, Moonglow’s first order of business was to seek gainful employment.  Although she had relied heavily upon scholarships and the like, she had still built up much debt over the course of the last gillion years – so she had to obtain the wherewithal to start paying it down.  Her promised position with the University expired with the death of the last tar sands mouse so she would have to get employment on ‘civy’ street.

The Monday after graduation saw Moonglow attend at a local Canada Employment Centre.  The conversation went something like this:

Hi may I help you, I am agent 509 and am here to assist you.

That’s great agent 509, my name is Moonglow and I need your assistance.  Both Smile.

I need to find work.

You have some to the right place. What do you do, exactly?

I study tar sands mice.

Can you do it from afar or do you have to be physically situated at the tar sands?

At the tar sands, but that is now academic since the last tar sands mouse died a week ago.

How tragic but I must tell you, the Government has implemented some changes recently to Employment Entitlements – it boils down to your having to accept work that is not necessarily in your field.  So let me think.

Ah, I do have something here – it was ORKIN, they are looking for an exterminator and the job is a local one – you won’t have to move ! 

An Exterminator??

Why you are a natural with your background – surely you of any of us will know the best way to knock off those pesky mice.

Moonglow then faints and in so doing hits her head on the edge of her chair while falling down.

It is off to her doctor – Sunbeam who declares her ‘permanently disabled’.

Moonglow is delighted; not only will she not have to seek work outside of her chosen study, but should she ever become unemployed, her disability cheque will far and exceed unemployment benefits.

A happy ending for all – save for you the taxpayer.

Who Was That Masked Man ??????????

 

Why Sir, that was the Lone Ranger !!

Well, whoever he is, from now on, he’d better steer clear of these parts !

We now move to a nearby courtroom where one Jesse James finds himself before the Hangin Judge.

“Having given you a fair trial of 5 minutes Mr. James, it is now my duty to impose sentence upon you..

First off for robbing the bank – 2 years;

For pistol whipping the teller – another 3 years;

For using a gun in the commission of an offence – 5 years;

And now the big one – for wearing a mask – 10 years.

That’s a total of 20 years Mr. James!  Is there anything you wish to say.

Yes Your Honour there is – “next time I rob a bank I will not wear a mask but I also won’t leave any witnesses – if you get my drift.

A wise decision on your part Jesse – now guard ..take him away.

Canada continues to crack down on crime.