Helicopter Ben …

 

As In Ben Bernanke, US Federal Reserve Chairman, who made himself famous by saying he would drop money out of the sky, from helicopters, in order to stimulate America’s economy.

As it turns out, he must have been correct in his analysis since governments around the world are doing exactly that, not dropping dough from the sky, but printing it as if it going out of style.

The USA has become a master at this practice and most recently Japan has signed on to the massive dollar (yen) printing as well.

And the result?

US Stock Markets are at record high levels and the heretofore moribund Japanese Market is finally showing signs of revival.

So hats off to Helicopter Ben.

But all this gets me thinking.

If money can be printed indiscriminately, without underlying value, why can’t it be used to manage a country’s debt?  Or even eliminate it for that matter?

So back to the US of A with its $17 Trillion Dollar Debt – which equals approx. 100% of its annual GDP. Why not just print enough money to pay the debt in full?

Take Zimbabwe for instance.  Its debt is a mere $10 billion dollars or 113% of its annual GDP.  And they, dear reader, are in the excess monetary printing business too.

Indeed, their largest denominated note is for a whopping $100 Trillion Dollars.  You read correctly…a 100 Trillion Dollar Bill.

So here is my idea for Bernanke and company.  Stop wasting time, you have a debt of $17 Trillion, issue yourselves a banknote in the total amount of $20 Trillion.  With that you can not only pay off 100% of America’s total debt, you can also bank $3 Trillion to apply to future debt.  Just like helicopter money …no?

Or they could ask Zimbabwe for a loan, heaven knows they now have the money.

Think of all the millionaires … more like billionaires that will result from the State’s paying of its massive debt.  Why everyone will be ecstatic, including the taxpayer since jettisoning such a large debt will take pressure of the need for more and more taxes.

A win win.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

AS Sun Tzu So Aptly Put It …

 

‘Know Your Enemy And Victory Will Be Yours’.

The Corollary would then be, ‘Failure To Know Your Enemy Will End In Defeat’.

Sun Tzu of the Zhou Dynasty spoke those words some 500 hundreds years before the birth of Christ. 

They were as true then, as they are now.

Which leads me to the ending of my most recent Blog where I admitted that I was not certain who would come out victorious in the War between The Islamists and the Secular West.  

Realistically speaking, I believe the end game will not favour the Islamists…for many reasons…but that may be wishful thinking on my part.  What is true though is that in the meantime the Islamists will cause great carnage to us in the West in fact they have been doing just that.

The greatest fear though is only spoken of in the corridors of power, and that is that these Extremists will successfully launch a nuclear attack on one of our cities with a portable launcher.  The numbers killed and wounded would be in the millions and dear reader, such an outcome is not beyond the balance of possibilities. 

So that takes us back to Sun Tzu.

Do we really know who are enemy is?

I’d say no and use as exhibit one the stance taken by the Leader of the Free World …the current occupant of the White House – who for nearly five years now has refrained from even using the word Terrorist to describe these thugs.

For the first time he lowered himself to do so just that after the recent Boston Marathon massacre.  But did you notice, he did not say who these “Terrorists” were.  In fact, he went out of his way to say they could not be categorized. 

If you are going to beat your enemy …best them at war … you need to have a good idea as to who they are.  Just ask Sun Tzu.

And can you just imagine Churchill saying in his famous ‘we will fight them on the beaches speech’ including in that speech – “whoever they turn out to be?”

But that is exactly what we are left with today.

I suspect that if we asked 10 different people Who are common enemy is since 9/11, we’d get 10 completely different answers:

1.  It is Al Qaeda;

2.  It is Extreme Muslims;

3.  It is all Sunnis and / or all Shiites;

4.  It is all Muslims;

5.  It is Iran;

6.  It is anyone..any where who deals in terror;

7.  It is the United States since it is the root cause of Middle East extremism;

8.  It is the United States who are doing these acts to blame others;

9.  It is the Jews;

10.  It is the Christians;

And so on and so on.

So Who Exactly Is It?

These Terrorists we are at war with are the Extreme Muslims who kill others, even other Muslims, for their petty religious purposes.

And yet our politicians and our liberal media is loath to say just that. Label it Political Correctness. So we end up getting 10 separate answers to the same question.

But more troublesome – much more troublesome is the fact that failure to identify our common enemy makes a concerted effort to defeat them impossible.  

One last thing.  Muslim Terrorists come in two colours:

The first are the Al Qaeda’s largely composed of Extreme Sunnis.

The second are more the State Sponsored Muslim Terrorists exemplified by the rogue states of Iran and Syria.  Both states contain Shiite Majorities.

That of course does not mean that all Sunnis and all Shiites are Terrorists… not at all.

They only become Terrorists when they murder and maim in the name of their God. Of note here, Extreme Sunnis and Extreme Shiites dislike one another.

In that regard, maybe the West should just sit back and let those two extremists groups have at each other. 

But first of course we would have to admit they are our enemy.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

 

 

Our New Cathedrals …

 

Are Shopping Centres …so say the many.

And they would be right.

When Anne and I head off for church on Sunday we often remark on how busy the roads are.  In the past, Sunday morning traffic was light at best but now it varies little …perhaps it is even more than on regular weekdays.

And for the most part, these travellers are not off to Church; rather, they are off to shop.

Sadly, Secularism and not Spiritualism is the watchword of our time.

And that brings me back to the events that have unfolded in Boston Massachusetts over the course of the last several days.

When all was done and the all clear whistle sounded, the good denizens of Boston did not flock to their nearby churches and synagogues for comfort, rather they headed to the Boston Red Sock’s Stadium to come together as a community in one large group hug.

In years gone by, in the face of such evil, congregations would gather to sing How Great Though Art, but this week at Boston Stadium the songs ricocheted off the score board were Sweet Caroline and of course their National Anthem.

There was not much room for God in their zeal to mend.

That is not to say the group hug at the Red Sock’s Stadium was a bad thing since truth be told I would have loved to have been part of it.  It is just that this reaction to evil without including a Spiritual dimension, seems hollow.

Spirituality itself can be misused as exemplified by the two young militant terrorists.  They, like countless others of their comrades in arms, have distorted one of the World’s great Religions for their own selfish mean-spirited purposes.

We in the West on the other hand have turned away on mass from the Greatest World Religion…Christianity.  It is a Religion of Love, Kindness and Forgiveness and in it we would find the strength to persevere against our adversaries. 

And without Christianity, it comes down to Secular vs. Misguided Spiritual.

As to the outcome of that struggle, your guess is a good as mine.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

RBC … as in …

 

The Royal Bank of Canada.

RBC’s President came out the latter part of last week and apologized to Canadians for allegedly hiring migrant (foreign) workers to replace 45 of its employees.

I say ‘alleged’ since these foreign workers were not coming into Canada to work rather they were coming here for training and were then going to take these 45 jobs back with them to India – a.k.a. ‘outsourcing’ which is an even worse case scenario but which has been going on now for decades.   

Question.  Where are most of your ‘things’ manufactured?

If you said China – you get full marks.

If you added the fact that this work was originally ‘outsourced’ from the West – you’d get bonus marks.

Can you imagine how much our cost of living would be if the things made in developing countries like China were made in North America.  It would be astronomically high. 

So I do not fault RBC in the least for doing what they were in the process of doing – if they did not do it – one of their rivals would and RBC would be at a disadvantage and sooner than later, thousands of its workers’ would be out on the street.

Speaking of that, RBC has over 60,000 employees in Canada and is in the top 5 when it comes to profitability.

I do though think it was tacky of RBC to have the very employees, who were going to lose their jobs – do the training.  RBC at the outset should have assured these 45 employees that other comparable work would be found for them in return for their assistance.

But getting back to the issue of outsourcing.

Capitalism requires that businesses stay competitive in order to survive.  And in that regard, outsourcing has proven to be a good way for western companies to stay competitive.  We cannot compete with developing countries’ much lower wages but we can take advantage of them in the way that RBC and countless others have been doing successfully via outsourcing.

In that regard, I was most surprised to hear Jason Kenney come out and say he was shocked by RBC’s action. He said something along the lines that ‘migrant workers were not intended to steal jobs away from Canadians’ despite the fact that this is often the result and despite the fact that, as mentioned, they were not migrant workers to begin with.

Kenney knows better – he is after all the Minister of Immigration and knows full well the difference between migrant workers (e.g. apple pickers) and outsourcing (e.g. textile workers).

More to the point, he is supposed to be a Minister in a Conservative (i.e. business friendly) Government and dissing companies like RBC which are only trying to stay viable is reckless. 

But Kenney is also an astute politician; he knows that more and more Canadians (read also Americans, Europeans etc.) have less and less use for Capitalism despite the benefits it has brought us all.

It seems these days that there is a growing belief that most of the ills facing society are the result of cold, calculating Capitalism.

And as more and more members of society become takers and not makers, this sentiment is bound to worsen. 

Indeed, the Guy Currently In The White House has made his career out of bad mouthing Business and it comes a no surprise then that America is spiralling down under the weight of debt in similar fashion to Europe.

As a result, we find ourselves being replaced by Developing Countries when it comes to employing Capitalism to increase the standard of living. In just a few years, China’s economy will out pace that of America’s.  It did not have to be.

So back once again to RBC – 45 workers in the scheme of things is small potatoes (unless you are one of the 45 that is) but on the broader scale the huge negative reaction to RBC speaks volumes.

The other day I called the local Ottawa office of a international company  (not a bank) and my call was answered by someone in the deep american south.  The next day I called the same local number and was put through to the Philippines.  It is just a way of life now.

For all those who have lost patience with Capitalism I would be most interested in hearing from them what system they would use in place of it.

As for RBC President Gord Nixon – he made a mistake …. not for permitting outsourcing…but in apologizing for having done so.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

We’ll Get The Bastaas…

 

My favourite quote by one of Boston’s Irish Citizenry.

In my recent Blog, I worried that the people of the United States might cower in fear as a result of this past Monday’s double bombing at the Boston Marathon.

Thank goodness I need not have – especially as it related to the good folks of Boston.

I heard a handful say that they would never participate in a marathon again but the overall reaction was to ‘carry on’ in the face of adversity; they were not going to allow themselves to change their lifestyle due to horror inflicted by psychos.

It is indeed encouraging to see that such character is alive and well south of the border.  I know that it still is in Britain and most certainly Israel.  I suspect it lives on in Germany and Japan but as for the rest, it is a long past memory.  And when I say that, I also suspect that Canada would find itself in the lesser group.  Fortunately, we have not yet been tested to know for certain.

Take Young Trudeau for instance.  In his first real interview …this with Peter Mansbridge the day after the bombing he had this to say:

‘we must look to find the underlying cause for the bombings’.

No we don’t…even the man who currently occupies the White House finally came out and called it was it is “Terrorism” and you do not deal with terrorists nor do you seek to find out its root causes.

Suffice to say it is mad men out to harm innocents and defenceless for their own disturbed purposes.

When I wrote my most recent Blog I indicated that I thought the bombings were done by either domestic whackos or foreign al qaeda agents and in the scheme of things it did not matter too much to me who was involved since Terror is Terror whoever the perpetrator.

Just released FBI  photos of the two likely suspects show them to both to be lily white and have all the markings of domestic youth.  I think we’ll soon know their identities and why they decided to do what they did.

But that will be cold comfort to those who died who suffered horrendous physical and mental injury.

I do not believe in the death penalty per se but could be convinced of its applicability when it comes to Terrorists.  At the very least these two, if and when they are caught, will spend a lifetime in jail and will have lots of time then to reflect on the root causes.

For the rest of us, we have to get on with living.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’ 

 

Marathon of Hope …

 

Let’s turn yesterday’s Terrorist Act on its head by holding another Boston Marathon asap.

Moreover, we should challenge these self same terrorists to try it again … but this time we’ll all be on guard.

If we cower and run, they win.  If we stand defiantly in the face of their pathetic effort to destroy our will – We Win.

So let’s have another long distance run for the sake of ourselves, our families and our way of life.

And in so doing, let’s call this wicked deed what it is … a cowardly terrorist act that preys on the defenceless innocents.  

I suspect the guilty will be found out and prosecuted but at this point there is nothing to suggest it was foreign (e.g. al qaeda) or domestic (e.g. minute men) but regardless, the perpetrators are nothing but cowardly scum. 

We cannot allow them to terrorize us.  In fact, the only way they can terrorize us, is if we let them .. since terror, must terrorize, to be successful.

I think back to the Brits in the dark days of 1940 when an invasion was expected to be imminent and each night the Luftwaffe bombed the City of London indiscriminately.  Their brave citizens went to the bomb shelters at night and in the morning came out to meet the day with strength and determination. 

Some say that since then, we in society have lost the will to be able to do this again. 

I simply do not believe that.

But we do need some leadership to show us the way.  Never mind more screening at airports, rather show us the way in which we can lead our daily lives – normally, but with defiance, in the face of those who would otherwise seek to destroy us.

You Terrorists do your worst and We Will Do Our Best and we will see who of us survives.

As I see it …

“K.d. Galagher’

 

He’s Got the Teeth & the Hair …

 

He’s even got the Name.

All he lacks is the rest of the body including a Brain.

Young Trudeau that is.

He has run a policy free campaign – with pride, stating that Leadership Races are not the time to discuss policy.

Rather reminiscent of Kim Campbell’s proclamation that Election Campaigns too were not the time to delve into such trivia.

Makes one wonder when exactly is a good time?

Plus, in the case of the coronation of Trudeau, how does one properly assess whether or not to vote for him when you have no idea as to what exactly he stands for.

One of the few areas he has pronounced himself on is pro choice – he is an ardent supporter.  Given that alone, he has lost this potential supporter.

He has also made clear that if it comes down to a choice between Quebec and the Rest of Canada, he’ll take the former.  Again sufficient information for me to turn away.

I said at the outset of the Leadership Race that Young Trudeau (YT) would be wise to sit it out until he at least gained some real experience.  Surprising as it is, he did not take my advice.

And I say that not because I thought he could not win – in fact I was afraid he would and not because I feared the Liberals returning to power – at this point in my life I really do not care who is in power – they are all varying shades of red. (And now we no longer have Maggie Thatcher to call back to set things straight).

Rather I said I hoped he would not run – again for his own sake, in that he did not have the needed life experience.  But more importantly, for the Liberal Party’s well being since by going the Trudeau route they could fore stall any serious look at where they collectively have gone off the rails.

That said, let’s hope that with that the Race coming to its logical conclusion that Trudeau will find the time to discuss policy before we are plunged into an Election a couple of years hence.

From my perspective though, I would be most surprised if he did.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’