For Those Of You Who Believe In A Higher Power.

This Note Is For Those Of You Who Believe In God.

It is not intended to diminish in anyway those of you who don't but today's message is not for you.

For Those Of You Who Believe...Including Myself.

I have written several times about how the Western World is transforming into Secularism despite the fact that Religion has been the foundation upon which our Democracies have been built.

Today we find ourselves under attack here in our home countries; where we are ridiculed and dismissed as irrelevant...politically non-correct.

We can live with that but throughout many parts of the world those who believe in a Higher Power are being slaughtered for their belief as the world stands mute in the face of this religious genocide.

Unlike our detractors though we can take comfort in the fact that there is a better place awaiting us after death.

To reinforce this with you, I give you the Holy Gospel according to Saint John - 15:18-21 -

Jesus said to his disciples: If the world hates you, realize it hated me first.  

If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.

Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is greater that his master',  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.

That does not mean that those who believe in God should roll over and accept their fate willingly.  Rather it provides the reason why things are going south in a ever growing secular world.

Indeed, it has always been, and continues to be our job to set an example for those who do not believe - in the hope that they too will realize the true value of life here on earth is to prepare for life ever lasting ...before it is too late for them. 

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

CAN DONALD TRUMP CLINTON ?

OR IS HE OUT OF TRUMP?

I have laid off the Trump saga for some time - as promised, but the time has come to once again spill some ink on this very fascinating topic.

Why so, you may rightfully ask.

Because dear Mr. Trump and Ms. Hillary have now both wrapped up their respective leadership campaigns. 

This despite the apparent fact that Donald's main contender, Ted Cruz, still believes he can cut Trump off at this summer's Republican Convention.

He can't.

And he can't primarily because if Cruz were to be successful it would be thanks to the shenanigans of the Republican Hierarchy, and the Grand Olde Party would simply blow-up.

And an exploding Elephant is not a pretty sight.

No one would be stupid enough to set that in motion.

So Trump has got it as does Hillary and her nemesis too - Bernie Sanders, will hang on in the hope that Hillary's future is as a resident of the Big House and not the White House. And I would put the chances of that occurring at even money.

Simply stated the dear lady broke the law when, as Sec State, she installed her internet server in her laundry room. 

But for argument sake, say Hillary is protected by her cronies in high places and she skates on being charged for gross negligence - what is the likely outcome of a Trump / Clinton match-up?

Why a Clinton victory of course...let me count the ways:

• Blacks won't vote for him;
• Hispanics won't either;
• Neither will immigrants generally;
• Muslims fear him;
• Youth ridicule him;
• Women don't like him; and the 
• Educated believe him to be a dunce.

So that leaves only lower class white males in the Trump camp.

And Trump has the highest negative popularity of any main candidate for the White House in history - some 67%.  That is not to say that Hillary's is much better at 55 % but it is better and of course she has all of the above voting blocks on-side.

So it is Hillary Clinton in a walk as the Pundits are quick to point out.  The same pundits who predicted 6 months ago that Trump would be dead in the water within days or at the most, weeks of his announcing his candidacy late last year.

Or is he?

Trump is beginning to mellow - he really lost me when he crowed that NATO was not pulling its weight and the US should pull out of it.

In my Blogs I have always said that NATO is needed now more than ever - bearing in mind the state of the world and the fact that there are only 20 full fledged Democracies in the World.

I have also said that NATO members need to start paying their fair share and it can no longer expect the US to pay the lion share of the Organization's expenses.  NATO expects member countries to expend 2% of their GDP on Defence.  Only 4 countries do so - which includes the US and the 3 others do not even come close to America's 3.6% expenditure.

And now Trump is starting to focus - finally realizing the value of NATO and putting his finger on the real issue - the lack of commitment of most of NATO's Membership.

About time but at least he has sensibly come around.

If he continues to mellow I might very well change my mind and if I was an American - might just vote for the guy.

He is a voice for the silent majority - against the special interest groups, the elites, the politically correct.

After 8 years of decline where the US enemies no longer fear it and its allies no longer trust it - Trump brings hope that America will regain its superior position in the world.

America's economy has stagnated - manufacturing jobs have been lost in the millions - wages have seen little or no growth all the while the Obama White House worries itself sick about Climate Change and job destroying Obama Care. 

And if that is not enough - the Courts - right up to the Supreme Court are making laws not interpreting them which have the affect of radically changing the Social Fabric of the Unite States.

Trump has the refreshing ability to cut through the BS and tell it like it is.  If someone calls him fat - he counters by calling them stupid.  He always seems to one up them and in that regard I cannot wait to see how he deals with Sleazy Hillary.

The world is a much more dangerous place thanks to Hillary and Obama's reign of ineptitude. 

She takes millions of $ from despots around the world for the Clinton Foundation and expects the unwashed believe this money is given without strings attached. 

She fiddles while the US Ambassador and 3 colleagues in Libya burn.  Then she blames everyone rather than herself for this tragedy save for the Islamic Terrorists who did the dastardly deed.

I could go on and on but believe I have made my point.

Bottom-line is - Hillary should win in a walk but by the same token Trump should not even still be in the race.

So would I count The Donald out - not in a minute.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

IS PTSD ....

THE NEW LOWER BACK PAIN?

I, for one, am suspicious.  Anybody, whose Anybody seems to be claiming and receiving disability pensions based on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

There is the Military of course - but now Fire Fighters, Police, Para Meds, Nurses and others are getting in on the action.

And don't doubt that there is real money to be had.

The US Military is paying out $3,000 per month tax free for PTSD Sufferers.  And the diagnosis is usually based solely upon the claimant's assertion that he or she suffers from it.

Like yesterday, when the lower back pain scam was so prominent.

But more and more reports suggest that fraud is a big part of the surge in cases.

And boy have they surged.

In 1990, the US Military had but 34,000 PTSD cases.  In 2013 that number had climbed to 650,000 ... or by 20 times.

And by this time of course their big wars were well behind them - WWI, WWII and Vietnam.

I don't for one moment think that all or even the majority of these cases are bogus but it does cause you to reflect on why the numbers have risen so high so fast over the last decade or two.

There can be three reasons for this amazing growth:

a) ptsd is a disease of epidemic proportions; or

b) there is $ to be had and it is very difficult to prove fraud; or

c) we in the West are becoming nations of wimps.

I discount choice a) out of hand, re b) there certainly has to be a large amount of fraud involved, and with c) sadly there is also lots of evidence that more and more of us have become or are becoming Wussies. 

That said, I am not suggesting that we go back to the days during World War One when PTSD Suffers - called Shell Shock then - were simply put up against a wall and shot. 

But it does appear something - albeit much less drastic - should be done to stem the tide.

And now, like I say - others are climbing on board.  All have something in common re these newbies - they are all government employees and have the best salaries, benefits and working conditions to boot.  But another 3 grand - tax free $, no doubt comes in handy.

I remember once a veteran coming to me to say he had just been awarded a pension for something or other - and I said good for you...until - 

He told me he had entered the hearing room with a cane and bent over - but I said to him I did not know you needed a cane - I did know that he walked straight and tall - and he replied he did not but he thought it was guaranteed to get him sympathy from the panel.  

And it looks like it did.

But then there was my father who served in Italy and Holland in tanks - he was the gunner and in post war life he was hard of hearing - surprise.

I told dad why don't you apply for a hearing pension and he responded saying there is nothing wrong with my hearing.  I was shouting at him at the time.

A hearing specialist concluded dad did indeed have hearing loss caused by Loud Noise and since he worked all his civilian life at a desk - it did not seem likely the loud noise damage was caused by his typewriter.

He got his small pension.

So I am in favour of the truly disabled qualifying for legitimate pensions - even for fire fighters, cops and nurses but for heavens sake, let's be more vigilante in weeding out the chaff from the wheat.

At the very least - tax these PTSD Pensions.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

CHRISTIANS UNDER ATTACK ...

ALL OVER THE WORLD.

Since the 60s and 70s Christianity has been under attack here in the West as Secular Society entrenches itself more and more into our societal institutions - eg. government, social, finance and so on. 

Church attendance has dropped by 45% as a growing number of boomers have opted out of organized religion and accordingly are fertile ground for vocal minorities pitching their anti-religious thoughts.


Prayers are no longer permitted in our schools nor even at public meetings generally.  

Abortion is not only tolerated, but strongly advocated.  Euthanasia is the new death wish.  Life is becoming cheaper. 

We have become Throwaway Societies. 

And marriage, which for millennium has meant a union between a man and a woman, now can mean virtually whatever one wants it to.  Moreover, individuals are now claiming to be whatever gender or non-gender that suits them at the moment. 

I truly believe that God created man and woman to compliment one another, and to unite as one upon marriage.

Indeed, it was only a few years ago that our political leaders were tripping over themselves defending traditional marriage and the resulting family as the foundation of society.  Nothing the non-religious can say or do today will change the validity of that.

But one thing is true - it is harder to be a Christian in modern society.  Just look at the contempt the Progressives heap on the Southern Christians. 

But it gets worse.

In the last century the % of Christians in the Middle East got as high as 20% ...today it is less than 5% and declining.

Much of that decline has occurred because of the discrimination Christians receive at the hands of the Islamic majority.  More recently they have been the victim of Genocide. 

When ISIS entered villages, towns and cities many Christian homes were marked by the sign of a cross for the purpose of selling them out to their Islamic butchers. 

The UN turns a blind eye as does the West - all determined to focus on the need for Muslim Immigration.  (Numerous news reports confirm that UN Refugee Camps are avoided by Christians since they face brutal treatment by the Muslim Majority).

Regardless of the fact that it is the Christians in this part of the world who are subject of genocide, the numbers being admitted to Europe and to North America are pathetically small.  For instance since 2011 only 3% of Refugees from Syria taken in by the USA were Christian. 

Similar anemic numbers exist for Europe.

And don't forget the nearly 300 Christian School Girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria.  Forced to renounce their Christianity, turned into sex slaves and more latterly forced to be human bombers.  Hell is simply too good for these as well as those ISIS Bastards.

So as our Progressives sit back in the comfort of their willful blindness to an evolving death society, the breakdown of the family, the murder, rape and torture of innocent Christians ponder this.

Recently I did an article on the fact that there are only 20 true democracies in the world - all exist in parts of Europe and North America.  All have something in common - they are based on Judaeo/Christian Values. The Jews have gone through their slaughter and the Christians are now encountering their own.  

If the day comes when they - Jews and Christians alike are no longer factors in our modern societies - that day will also include the day True Democracies no longer exist. 

And just think what the state of our world will be then.

It is coming more quickly than any of us think.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

NATO, THE UNITED NATIONS.... OR

SHOULD WE GET RID OF EITHER OR BOTH?

IN EITHER CASE, IS THERE A NEED FOR  ANOTHER?


With the world going to 'Hell in a Hand-basket' both of these organizations have come under withering attack.

NATO had become more of a Generals' arm chair organization -- that is to say, all talk and no action and certainly no serious money to support its Mandate.

NATO came into being in 1948 as a bulwark against the USSR but more latterly has been much more ineffective in stemming Russia's Aggression.  In-so-far-as Islamic Terrorism is concerned, NATO has been a non-player.

It officially requires its member states - most of which are democracies by the way, to allocate a mere 2% of their GDPs to defence.  Sadly, only four of its 28 member states attain that goal; the US is the leader at 3.7%* followed by the UK, Estonia and Poland.

   *The United States would of course be spending lots on defence regardless of the NATO requirement but of interest, when Obama first became President in 2008 it was spending 6% of GDP on Defence - nearly twice what it now spends.

So is it time to send NATO packing?

No way !! The world is more dangerous now than at anytime since the end of WWII.  NATO, although it took its time, did eventually stop Russia in its naked bid to seize the Ukraine and several of its former satellites in Eastern Europe.  And we still have the Islamist idiots as well as the reawakening giant - China which has made made clear its ambition to take over lands of others in the far east.

NATO is needed more than ever along with better and coordinated weapons  and a membership that voluntarily pays its annual dues...and if they don't ...boot them out..


THE UNITED NATIONS

If NATO is sputtering along, the UN is virtually paralyzed.

For all intents and purposes the UN is governed by its Security Council which in turn operates at the whim of each of its 5 'veto' members - the US, UK, France, Russia, and China. All have vetos and 2 of the 5 are totalitarian states.  Nothing gets accomplished unless all 5 are in accord.

And then there is the General Assembly containing reps from all 193 Member States - only 20 of which are True Democracies representing less than 9% of the world's population.  Another 59 are considered 'Flawed Democracies' and together consist of less than 40% of the entire population.

As such the UN General Assembly is inundated with countries that can best be described as led by Henchmen.  It is comes as no surprise therefore that the only country in the world which they continually wish to condemn is Israel...itself the only Democracy in the Middle East and a Beacon in that part of the world which comes under authoritarian rule.

Given the General Assembly's overall membership, it means that its various Committees are controlled by non-democratic countries.

In sum it is a joke.

The UN does have some uses and as such should be kept although monetary support from democratic countries should be given judiciously.

It has been able to get countries together to pass important international agreements in the areas of Health, Criminal Law, Trade, Refugees and even with respect to Human Rights.

It also provides a useful body for nations to talk, ...as Winston Churchill so ably put it - "better to jaw, jaw than to war, war.

Okay - so we keep them both - flaws and all. Do we then need another.

I think we do.

I was shocked to learn that out of nearly 200 countries in the world - only 20 or about 10% are classed as True Democracies.  No wonder things are so bad.

And while NATO can be considered the Military Arm of Democracy - we are in desperate need of more democratic countries.

But I am not naive enough to think that one can just wave a wand and presto country x becomes democratic - it takes time - education and the building of institutions including a functioning judicial system. And all that takes mentoring and money.

What the world lacks in my opinion is a body of True Democracies - let's call it the Original Twenty (20) which Mandate is to encourage other nations to crossover and join the Democratic Team.  Focus should first be on those 59 Countries deemed to be 'Flawed Democracies' with the ultimate goal being  to have all 193 World States ...classed as True Democracies.

Only then will the basic Freedoms be protected - Speech, Religion, Political as so on.  Only then will Human Rights be protected around the world.  Only then will poverty be eliminated.  Only then will the daily slaughter of innocents end.

As I see it...

'K.D.  Galagher'

Panama...A Good Place To Buy A Hat

And until recently - A Good Place To Stash Some Cash.

That's right, the Big Kerfuffle these days is that some wealthier folk around the world have been parking some of their excess cash off-shore.

"Big Hairy Deal", I say.

But is has already claimed the Prime Minister of Iceland and is even giving gas pains to strong-man Vlad Putin.

This is because the Left in our Societies are in great dungeon labeling this legal act as one right up there with the Crime of Treason.

Well dear Reader - it ain't, but if Bernie 'The Socialist' Sanders gets in power, along with his 90% tax rate on the rich, places like Panama will be overflowing with such funds.

Remember what happened when the Government changed in France in their last election and tried to impose a mere 75% tax on its wealthy citizens.  Why those citizens were on the bus of out there to other countries and other citizenships faster than you could say Jack Rabbit.

As I have pointed out recently, nearly 50% of potential American tax payers pay no income tax whatsoever, while the top 1% pay over 35% and the top 10% pay slightly less than 70%.

But despite this, the myth continues that the top earners are not paying their fair share.

In fact, as these numbers attest - they are paying way beyond their fair share and, in so doing, are creating jobs for the rich and poor alike.

So they legally invest off-shore.

And Bully For Them.

And it has always been so - dating back hundreds of years.  For instance, I recall visiting Scotland several years ago where I was told that in the early part of the last millennium, windows on the homes of the more wealthy were covered over in order to avoid paying the new-fangled window tax.

As Newton famously said, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

So what's really going on here?

Quite simply,  the Entitled Elites want a piece of the action - or at least - they want to see your hard earned dollars spent on their pet idiotic projects such as Cap and Trade.

It is well worth repeating here Margaret Thatcher's wise dictum that the trouble with Socialism is that it works only until it runs out of other people's money to spend.

So the little dears are hard at it.

But not to worry, because money (wealth) has legs. Communist Countries found this to be the case when they imposed strict but ineffective barriers to money leaving their countries.  In fact, these barriers were fundamental in seeing Communism disappear well before the end of the last century.

If nations today and some seem inclined to do so, try to legally restrict the movement of money out of their countries, those nations will experience the same negative results.

And by so doing,  they will seriously impair their own economies for years to come.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

UBER .....SCHMUBER.

IT'S ALL ABOUT UBER !!!

WHAT ABOUT THE POOR CABBIE?

Over the last couple of years, I have watched with interest the Worldwide Fight going on between the UBER Ride Service and the quaint Taxis Cab Business; the checker cabs, the yellow cabs and of course the famous black cabs of London England.

UBER, the upstart, has come along recently promoting Smart Phone Apps which you can use to request a ride and pay for it at the same time challenging the long time love affair between the public and our cabbies.

And they are doing it through the riders' pocket books - they can operate far more cheaply since they do not have to get a licence, nor liability insurance, nor even a police check.

UBER's pitch is that the Cab Industry is so 'yesterday' - "get with the program and come into the 21st Century".

And I say, not so fast guys.

And, I can hear many out there countering - 'Galagher, you probably would have said the same thing at the turn of the 1900s claiming that the horse and buggy was superior to the new-fangled automobile'.

Maybe, but let's look first at where the Cab Business is today and how it got there:

Governments, primarily local or city governments quickly got into the licencing of cabs - their owners and their drivers.  Not only did it raise revenue via the selling of licences plus the annual fees, but it ensured that their respective public's were provided with a safe method of transport.

But in issuing these licences - the government authorities also restricted the numbers issued so a black market arose where licences were sold over the years for ever increasing dollar amounts.

And thus was the state of the Cab Business over the course of most of the 1900s.

So it is time to put you in the driver's seat so to speak and then tell me what you think about what has happened to the hapless cabbie:

You are an immigrant - you come to a new country and find that the only work you can get - in ever more modern societies -  is menial.  You end up driving a cab for 12 hours plus per day and make less than minimum wage.

You are trying to support a family of 4 for instance - and at the end of a brutal week have little to show for your work.

You have to pay rent to the owner of the cab licence since you do not have the money to pay the $300,000 plus to buy your own.  You pay gas, insurance, repairs and various other fees for the honour of working these long hours.

You dear reader decide after several years of this to beg, borrow and steal to arrange to buy one of these over priced licences and find yourself making more money per week but you are in debt up to your eye-balls.

You still have visions of seeing your 2 kids get an good education because you know that this is the only way that will see them escape the hand-to-mouth existence you have had to endure.

And along comes Uber - the new age which prices the old yellow cab out of existence.

The cabbies ask for 3 things - one that the Uber drivers have to have a licence too, second that they must obtain adequate insurance and finally that they all must regularly produce police clearances.

The big one of course is with respect to the licencing which in their wisdom the authorities decide is now longer needed - so the licence owners say okay - then compensate us for what we paid for our worthless licences.

To bad - so sad is the reply they get.

They are told it is just like a bad stock investment - some times the investment goes up, sometimes it stays the same and sometime it drops ...even to the point of worthlessness.  It is chance you took when you purchased the licence.

So what do you the immigrant think - you worked 12 to 14 hours a day for minimum wage to raise your family - you then put everything you / your family / your friends had to buy a licence and for the privilege you placed yourself in debt for eternity.

And now these smart ass bureaucrats - paid too much and under-worked have the nerve to tell you to suck it up.

The fact is, these self same governments / bureaucrats were part and party to this ponzi scheme from the very beginning.  They knew by restricting the issuance of licences that their cost would skyrocket over time and now when they decide the day of licencing is over - they have an obligation to the folks who played the game along with them.

Reimburse them for their sour investment.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'