DRIVING ME CRAZY.

'DRIVING' ... THAT IS !!

RECENTLY I DID A BLOG ON THE DANGERS POSED BY TRUCKS BUT IF TRUTH BE TOLD, THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY BAD DRIVERS ON THE ROAD TODAY.

AND THE STATISTICS BEAR THIS OUT.

EACH YEAR 1.3 MILLION DIE IN VEHICLE CRASHES AROUND THE WORLD...44.5 THOUSAND IN THE UNITED STATES ALONE.

ALL TOTALED, THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 260 MILLION REGISTERED VEHICLES IN THE UNITED STATES TODAY; WHEN I STARTED DRIVING IN THE MID 1960s, THERE WERE BUT 60 MILLION, AN INCREASE OF SOME 450%.

BUT AGAIN, IT IS NOT THE NUMBER OF VEHICLES THAT IS THE PROBLEM, IT IS THEIR OWNERS WHO CAUSE ALL THE DEATH, DESTRUCTION AND MAYHEM.

AND SPEAKING OF BAD DRIVERS THERE ARE  FIVE (5) TYPES THAT ESPECIALLY MAKE MY BLOOD BOIL:

    1.  THE EXTREME SPEEDER.  IT IS NOT AS IF WE ALL DO NOT SPEED TO SOME EXTENT, HECK IF YOU OBEYED THE POSTED SPEED, YOU'D HOLD UP TRAFFIC.  BUT THAT SAID, IT IS HOP-ALONG-CASSIDY AND HIS SIDE-KICKS CLIPPING ALONG AT 30 OR 40 MPH OVER THE SPEED LIMIT THAT GET MY ATTENTION;  WHEN THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS ...AS IT OFTEN DOES, THERE IS NO WAY THESE CHARACTERS CAN REACT / BREAK IN TIME TO AVOID A COLLISION;

    2.  THE TAILGATER.  IT NEVER SEEMS TO FAIL THAT SOME NUT-BAR POSITIONS HIS OR HER CAR (MOSTLY MALES) MERE FEET BEHIND MY BUMPER.  I AM TEMPTED TO HIT THE BRAKES AS HARD AS I CAN TO TEACH THESE BOZOS A LESSON;

    3. THE CROSSER OF ALL LANES.  EVEN MORE TROUBLESOME, ARE THOSE DRIVERS WHO DRIVE LIKE HELL IN THE HAMMER LANE AND THEN, WITHOUT WARNING, CROSS ALL LANES TO REACH THEIR EXIT LANE. WHERE DID THEY GET THEIR LICENCES ...IN A BOX OF CRACKER JACKS? 

   4.  THE LANE WEAVER.  SIMILAR TO THE 'CROSSER OF ALL LANES' THIS IDIOT, WHO POSSESSES AN IQ THE SIZE OF HIS HAT BAND, WEAVES IN AND OUT OF TRAFFIC AS IF HIS LIFE DEPENDED ON IT ...AS IT TOO OFTEN DOES.

AND FINALLY, 

5.  THE RED LIGHT RACER.  WHEN THE LIGHT CHANGES FROM GREEN TO YELLOW, THESE IDIOTS SPEED UP ENSURING THAT THEY WILL REACH THE INTERSECTION WELL AFTER THE RED IS SHOWING. WHERE ARE THE INTERSECTION CAMERAS?  THESE ROAD RAMBOs SHOULD HAVE THEIR LICENCES REVOKED FOR AT LEAST 10 YEARS!!

I REMEMBER SHORTLY AFTER PASSING MY DRIVER'S TEST, I WAS IN HENNESY'S GARAGE JUST DOWN THE STREET FROM MY PARENT'S HOME.  I TOLD THE OWNER 'BERT' ABOUT GETTING MY LICENCE AND HE SAID TO ME, 'WELL DONE, BUT NEVER FORGET, DRIVING IS NOT A RIGHT ...BUT RATHER IT IS A PRIVILEGE'.  

I NEVER FORGOT HIS SAGE ADVICE.

BUT IT IS TOO BAD SO MANY DRIVERS TODAY BLISSFULLY IGNORE IT.

ON THE POSITIVE SIDE THOUGH IS THE FACT THAT DRIVERLESS CARS WILL SOON BE THE NORM AND ALTHOUGH I WILL MISS THE JOY OF DRIVING MYSELF, I CERTAINLY WILL NOT MISS TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY OF THE ONEs TO FIVEs.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

TRUMP IS REALLY BLOWING IT...

Pardon the Pun, as I take no joy in writing today's Blog.

I said from the beginning that I would never have voted for Trump the Buffoon, nor for that matter, Hillary the Crook but even with that statement, it continues to amaze me how far down Donald Trump has fallen.

Even as just a Buffoon, I personally supported many of his policy positions and most certainly sympathized with his lunch bucket supporters over Clinton's Progressives Elites...and quite frankly still do.

However, I have now had it with the current President primarily because his personal growth has stalled in the adolescent stage. 

This has been evident throughout his adult(?) life and most recently by his abhorrent treatment of two loyalists...Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his recent Press Secretary Sean Spicer.  Bridges too far for me. 

Soon, Trump will be left with just Family, and maybe fortunately for him, he has lots of those. 

That said, all the blame does not rest solely with Donald Trump, all sides have contributed their fair share but it is Trump who now looks to be totally out of control.

Simply stated, the guy needs to resign.

Sadly, I do not see Trump following this advice so we are stuck with him and as for you on the Left hoping for Impeachment...it simply ain't going to happen. 

The Irony in all of this is that should Trump step down, the Progressive Left harbours even greater animosity toward his Christian, Anti-abortion, Vice Presidential successor, Michael Pence.  

It brings to mind the olde saying ' Be Careful What You Wish For...You Just Might Get It'.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

More On Canada's Deplorable & Sneaky Action To Defeat US Army Medic Widow's Claim.

In my last blog, I pointed out that our Canadian Liberal (Read Progressive) Government voluntarily settled with Al Qaeda Terrorist Omar Khadr to the tune of $10.5 Million Dollars plus an Apology!! 

Those monies were paid surreptitiously to Omar Khadr in order to defeat widow, Tabitha Speer, from collecting on her US Judgement against this self same Terrorist who confessed to killing her unarmed husband during a fire-fight in Afghanistan between US Forces and Al Qaeda Terrorists in 2002.  

In his ruling, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba said he had heard nothing to show Khadr planned to hide assets to thwart possible enforcement of the above-noted massive American court award against him.

“People might have a lot of opinions. But this is not a coffee shop. This is a court of law,” Belobaba said during the hearing. “We don’t, thank goodness, in Canada have one law for Omar Khadr and one law for all other Canadians.”

I expect you will agree with me when I say to His Honour Judge Belobaba that there should not be the same law "for Omar Khadr and... for all other Canadians" if for no other reason than 'all other Canadians' are not blood-thirsty psychopathic Islamic Terrorists. Thank God or should I say, thank Allah for that?

You get the sense from reading his decision that His Honour was simply playing at being a Judge...so let's you and me insert our own comments where we think appropriate:

Let's begin with the Widow claiming that she is worried about Khadr and / or the $10.5 Million going missing in action and she wants the Canadian Government's blood money frozen, (assuming of course that it has not already been dispatched to a Terrorist Friends outside of Canada) until she has had a chance to file her American Court Decision with the Courts here in Canada.

The Honourable Judge's Imagined Comments appear below in bold Italics. 

• Does Mr. Khadr have a stable home environment?  Conclusion 'Yes' ...check

Our Thoughts...'Hardly Stable..his Father, a close confidant of Osama ben Laden was killed in a fire-fight with Pakistani Security Forces in 2003 at the same time, his son (Omar's brother) was wounded and paralyzed for life. Omar's mother, returned then to Canada to ensure the best of medical care for her disabled son all the while telling anyone who would listen what a God Forsaken Country Canada really is.

• Does Omar Khadr have access to employment?  'Yes' ...check

Sure he does, he can return any time he wants to work with his fellow Al Qaeda Terrorists and inflict more carnage on the weak and unprotected. Good money in that line of work we are told.

• Does He associate with reputable people? 'Yes' ...check

His friends and associates are mainly fellow Terrorists and as such are the scum of the earth.

• Does Khadr have the wherewithal to either spirit himself and / or his 10.5 Million away from Canada?  'No'...check

Get real, if anyone has those connections it is Omar Khadr !!

And all the more reprehensible is the fact that if Khadr does indeed shelter his dough in Terrorist Territory outside of Canada, our Liberal Government would not be able to complain since it acted as the prime facilitator for this to happen.

Justice Belobaba and the Canadian Government look bad now for what they have done but just think how bad they will look if it ultimately turns out that the money is gone or even worse, if Omar Khadr returns to his Terrorist Buddies in Afghanistan. 

Dear Reader, we are at War with Al Qaeda and their ilk...whatever happened to charges of Treason or is it ...as per Judge Belobaba's own words it would only apply to the Khadr's of this world as long as it applied to everyone else. 

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADA'S PRIME MINISTER ...HAS REALLY ...

Blown It.

He approved a secretive 10.5 Million Dollar payment to Al Qaeda Terrorist and Killer...Omar Khadr.

And dear Reader, I am furious.

Khadr admitted to killing an unarmed US Medic by the name of Sgt. Christopher Speer and blinding in one eye, Sgt. Layne Morris in fighting between these Terrorists and US forces in Afghanistan in July of 2002. 

And yet, the Government of Canada, under the auspicious (?) Leadership of Justin Trudeau, just this week apologized to Khadr while paying him secretly $10.5 Million in order to defeat Speer's widow, Tabitha Speer from realizing on her multi-million dollar successful lawsuit against the same Omar Khadr.

It makes one want to throw-up !!

I know, I promised to not deal with Canadian Issues for at least a year but something like this continues to come up and I simply cannot help myself.

Some Relevant and Interesting History:

The Ruling Liberals, as is their want, have tried to place blame on the former Conservative Government under Stephen Harper for the Khadr debacle but this is all Liberal doing from A to Z.

The Father, Ahmed Khadr, a close confidante to the late Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with Pakistani forces in 2003.  He had been jailed by Pakistan earlier but in 1996 then Canadian Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien saw fit to successfully plead for his release on the basis that Ahmed did not pose a threat to security.  With that Liberal Government act, the dye was cast.

In that same 2003 firefight another of Ahmed Khadr's sons...Abdul Karim Khadr was paralyzed and Canada is paying for his medical bills.  Unbelievable.  They all should have been stripped of their citizenship for Treason. 

Omar Khadr's mother...the now widow of the lateAhmed has been quoted many times saying she hates Canadian Society all the while gratefully accepting, on behalf of herself and what is left of the Terrorist Clan, the largess that self same Society regularly bestows upon them.  

Supporters of Omar Khadr ...and there are many in Progressive Canada, argue that Omar was but a mere boy when his fight with the American Soldiers took place...and indeed he was but 15 years old at the time. But even the Misguided United Nations describes a child soldier as being less than 15.

But irrespective of that, Khadr was not a child soldier.  He was a Terrorist and as such was not entitled to any protections under the 
Geneva Convention. 

And to return to the Liberal Government involvement, when Omar Khadr went to Guantanamo in 2003, who was the Prime Minister of Canada?...You got it - the one and the same Jean Chretien who had earlier arranged for his father's release. 

And our Liberal Government keeps saying it was all the Conservatives fault.

And moving along, when an agreement was finally reached with the Americans in 2012 to allow Omar Khadr to spend the rest of his sentence back here in Canada, who was the Governing Party then? Well guess what, it was the Conservatives under Stephen Harper !!

And who sold out to Omar ...by not only apologizing to him but to pay him over Ten Million Dollars for the privilege.. Again, it was the current Liberal Government under Justin Trudeau.

In this strange and upside-down world of ours we have most certainly lost our moral compass. Our compassion should rest with Sgt. Speer's widow, his young children and with the poor soldier who was blinded.  And instead, our Liberal Government made sure that these victims could not easily collect on this blood-money payment.  It is to weep.

Here is what Retired American State Department Diplomat, David T. Jones, had to say about Canada's Disgraceful Conduct:

"Somehow, Khadr became the victim ...as if Canadians should be able to travel the world, kill US Soldiers and suffer no consequences".

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A LAW MAKES

Today finds Ontario Nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer being sentenced for murdering 8 Seniors in various Nursing Homes throughout our Province.  As such, she has the distinction of being our worst Serial Killer ...ever.

Her killing spree pales though in comparison to the deaths attributed to our Country's relatively new Euthanasia Law....it came into effect exactly a year ago this month. 

In fact, nearly a thousand (970) were legally murdered under this new law during the remainder of 2016 alone.

In this light, Wettlaufer is a piker. 

Why we in this country even award our Murderers our highest nation's honours as evidenced by the Order of Canada presented to the mass murderer of unborn babies ...Henry 'the baby killer' Morgentaler.

To make murder legal does not make it right but in our society's twisted sense of right and wrong given time Wettlaufer too might qualify as the Poster Child for Euthanasia's / Assisted Suicide just as Morgentaler eventually qualified for the O.C. 

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

DIEPPE A NEW AND...BETTER PERSPECTIVE

From Wikipedia:

The Dieppe Raid, also known by its code-name Operation Jubilee, was an Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe during the Second World War. The raid took place on the northern coast of France on 19 August 1942. The assault began at 5:00 a.m., and by 10:50 a.m. the Allied commanders were forced to call a retreat. Of the 6,086 men who made it ashore, 3,623 (almost 60%) were either killed, wounded or captured. The Royal Air Force failed to lure the Luftwaffe into open battle, and lost 106 aircraft (at least 32 to flak or accidents), compared to 48 lost by the Luftwaffe.^[5] The Royal Navy lost 33 landing craft and one destroyer.

The other evening I was most fortunate to have sat in on a presentation by Historian David O'Keefe, author of the recent book entitled One Day in August...The Untold Story of Dieppe. 

I thought I knew quite a bit about the Raid having worked closely with Veterans for about a dozen years.  Dieppe was always caste as a great military failure but that did not stop efforts to find some positives out of defeat.

The two best attempts at this were to say that Dieppe provided the Allies with valuable information on how to do an invasion properly when it came to the successful D-Day Invasion some 2 years later. The other proposition offered up was to say that Dieppe was needed to assure Russia, which was experiencing terrible loses on the German / Russian Front, that the West was prepared at least to try to invade Nazi Europe and by doing so hopefully pull some German Division back from the Eastern Front. 

The first argument is specious ...Dieppe was an unmitigated disaster and added nothing toward the planning of D-Day.  The second argument is more plausible since Russia no doubt did want to divert Germany's attention away from it but the Raid's poor planning and horrendous losses make it hard to justify that this played much, if anything, in the Allies' planning that fateful day.

So that brings us back to last David O'Keefe's lecture.

First of all, O'Keefe is a great orator and he knows Dieppe inside and out.

According to him, the two reasons offered above for why Dieppe happened have no relation whatsoever to reality. Quite frankly, O'Keefe opinioned, had all the troops been killed at Dieppe it would have been well worth it for the Raid's Senior Planners. 

So Dear Reader, what was the Real Reason for Dieppe?

It's an Enigma....really.

As in Bletchley Park and its famous occupant, Alan Turing.

But first a little history about Enigma:

Enigma was a skillfully designed machine that produced a virtual unbreakable code.

Invented by a German, Arthur Scherbius in 1918, it was known as Enigma A.  In the mid 1920's, the German Army began to take an interest in its military potential to send and receive secret communications during a time of war. 

In mid 1941, Alan Turing was able to break the code of the latest edition of Enigma known as M3.  In early February 1942 the Allies learned that an updated version known as M4 was about to be released.  Since the breaking of the M3 codes had saved so many Allied Troop's lives and even more importantly had enabled tons of military hardware to reach the shores of Great Britain safely, it was essential to the Top Command that M4 be decoded as soon as possible.

And this Dear Reader is where Dieppe came into the picture.

Intelligence showed that one of these new devices was located in the small town of Dieppe on the west coast of France. And not only that, but along with the machine were new codebooks that would immediately enable the Allies to listen in on top secret communications of the Third Reich. This material had to be obtained at all cost - the loss of life was really an immaterial afterthought. 

Only problem was ...Dieppe was strongly defended by German Forces.   And not only that, the terrain was most difficult - small stony beaches leading to high impenetrable cliffs.  The Raiders were sitting ducks.

Lord Mountbatten oversaw the planning and O'Keefe made it very clear that his only interest in the Raid was to ensure that British Commandos use the confusion of battle to spirit into the village and steal off with the new and improved Enigma and its codes. 

In the end things went so bad, that even the commandos could not get through to their golden grail. 

If it had been up to Mountbatten and company nothing more would have been said about that sad day and for the most part that is what transpired.  It was an embarrassment for all involved and was best forgotten.

Families of those who survived the slaughter say that unlike other veterans, their loved ones never breathed a word about what took place on that beach so many years ago. 

Fortunately, some two months later, the Allies were able to obtain the needed code books from a sinking U-Boat.

Experts tell us that the Allies' ability to break the Enigma Codes was instrumental in securing victory and certainly was responsible for shortening the length of WW II by at least 2 years.

For me personally, I am at last comforted to know that a real reason may exist for what would otherwise have been a senseless slaughter of innocent young men. 

I intend to purchase David O'Keefe's ground-breaking book and perhaps you may wish to consider doing so as well.  

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

DONALD TRUMP...ON WITCH HUNTS AND CUBA AND MORE.

AND IN THAT REGARD, TRUMP IS BATTING .500

HE IS CORRECT ABOUT THE WITCH HUNT ASSERTION BUT LESS CORRECT ABOUT IN HIS VILIFICATION OF CUBA HOWEVER UNDERSTANDABLE HIS REASONING.

LET'S DEAL WITH CUBA FIRST.

Donald Trump's speech last week in Florida was Red Meat to those who had fled Castro's Cuba. He rightly condemned the damage the Castro Boys had done to their island where Canadian Tourists flock and Political Dissenters rot in filthy cells.

But dear Reader, Trump was wrong do this.

I did not agree with much that Obama did as President but I did agree with him when he...and the Pope...reached out to the Castros to restore some sort of normalcy after 60 plus years of neglect and animosity.  Simply stated...the US Policy had failed to bring Castro Cuba to its knees and it was time for a new and more enlightened approach.

This new approach - i.e. trade, and lifting travel bans had an excellent chance of success given Russia's declining influence on the island and the aging of the two Castros...and especially now that Fidel has passed away into history.  

Trump's incendiary comments will only serve to stiffen resolve of the islanders loyal to the Castro legacy to dig in and carry on their resistance to everything American.

I believe the motivation for his speech was Trump's quest for flattery and praise wherever and however he can get it.  But he was wrong to look for it in Florida. 

Which leads me to his comments about Witch Hunts.

Here Trump is bang on ... the Progressive Left and its Cheer-leading Media is out to get him on any Trumped Up issue they can dream up and boy can they dream up some doozies. Take their silly insinuation that Trump somehow colluded with Russia in trying to influence the course of last November's Election.  

I have decided that I will not lower myself to give the Left the time of day in these blogs to their juvenile and nonsensical musings.

Rather, one of my favourite sayings is 'the proof is in the pudding' meaning words mean nothing...what counts are outcomes.

So here are the real issues I will be watching ...being the issues of real concern to people like you and me (in no particular order):

1.   Get out of the Paris Accord....Done

2.   Reduce the Corporate Tax Rate from 35% to 20% or lower...OS

3.   Approve the Keystone and the Dakota Pipelines...Done*
      (will not be satisfied until these pipelines are up and going)

4.   Force NATO Members to contribute their fair-share that is to                  say, 2% of their GDP...Progress has been made but time                will tell if President Trump has been successful in this                  important area. 

5.  Force the World's Outliers back into line - e.g. Russia, Iran,                   Syria, North Korea, China, Pakistan, Turkey, ISIS and their              ilk...OS

6.  Improve the Dysfunctional School System by allowing more            Charter Schools...OS

7.  Make significant inroads in improving Conditions in the                     Ghettos...OS

8.  Cut Red Tape e.g. Cancel Numerous Regulations ...OS

9.  Fix Their Dysfunctional Health System...OS  

10. Close the Southern Wall to illegal immigration...Underway
       (even though the promised Wall has yet to be built, beefed up          border security has dramatically reduced the volume of illegal        immigrants entering into the United States from Mexico) 

11.  Restore the Military which was allowed to seriously decline              under Obama...OS

12.  Balance the Budget...OS

13.  Greater Protection for the Unborn and the Infirm /                            Elderly...Unknown

14.  A push-back on Unisex Washrooms / Showers...Unknown


When I do my final assessment of Donald Trump and his Administration the above will be the issues I will focus on and not the nonsensical chatter of the Desperate and Hysterical Progressive Left.  

Trump's success or failure with regard to these 14 important subject areas will determine whether or not he goes down as a Very Successful President or as a Failure as was the case with his predecessor.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'