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.

 

F 35s…

 

One Last Time I promise…

But first – Peter MacKay.

Some of you have taken exception to my pronouncement that Peter MacKay is the best Minister of Defence to date and truth be told, I share some of your concern.

However, I said “Best” – not ‘Great’.  It is just that he has had so little competition in the role.

Let’s look back – Pearson was too occupied with Peace – Trudeau with free love and roses – Chretien well – who knows and Martin was just trying to hold on to power.  The Liberals as a group did not put much stock into Defence and that was evident by the quality or lack of quality of their Defence Ministers.

Mulroney, a PM from Quebec, too did not put much stock in our Defence abilities and no one of note was appointed as DND Minister over his 9 – 10 years of power.  Now we have Harper and his appointment of MacKay, given this most undistinguished past – seems brilliant.

Again I say MacKay is the Best I can recall, albeit he falls short of being a Great Minister of Defence.

That leads me back to our topic – the F 35s and I would like to present my case as follows:

• The USA is in decline and as I have said on numerous occasions, the country is broke – flat busted.  England was the world’s policeman for the 18th and 19th Centuries with the US picking up the torch for the 20th.  It still is top dog and will be so for some time to come, but with the rise of Asia, the clock is ticking.
•  We in the Western World, outside of the States, have had a free ride more or less for the last 100 years when it comes to our collective defence.  We now need to step up to the plate and do our bit in conjunction with the US of A – in partnership and the vehicle we all need to use is NATO.
• One more thing, the world is changing when it comes to how policing is done – we have now reached the point where battles will be fought from the air and not the ground.  Ships will still be needed to ferry the planes and special forces, to go behind the lines – but the days of the grunt soldier are, I believe, history.

So that leads us again to the F 35s.  Individual countries like Canada can no longer decide on their own what type of military equipment it needs.  It must be a collective decision a.k.a – The NATO Decision.  It is only via such a concerted effort can we in the West hope to hold on to our military advantage for as long as possible.  If we continue to expect the States to do it for us – we are all doomed.

In the case of the F 35s, NATO proclaimed that this was its air weapon of choice and instructed its member countries to buy it.  Canada fell into suit and yet poorly communicated its reasons for doing so, to Canadians.  Canadians are not stupid, the election of McGuinty aside, if they are told the reasons for a needed action, they can usually be counted on to support it.

So here we have the Opposition Parties screaming at the top of their lungs that the Usual Procurement Process was not followed when they know full well that the ‘Usual Procurement Process’ does not apply.

Can’t you just imagine if it did apply…

• Required, NATO approved Lockheed Martin F 35s.

Result … “and the winner is, the Lockheed Martin F 35”.

There are lots of technical reasons why our military equipment must be compatible with our Allies’ equipment, too mundane to list.  Suffice it to say though, we are in a new era and if we in Canada wish to play a part – and heaven knows we need to, then the old rules of procurement are passé, rhetoric to the contart.

The last time I deal with this sujbect – I promise.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

I Am Entitled To My Entitlements …

 

Author Known:  The Honourable (former) Liberal Minister from Nova Scotia,  David Dingwall.

As we can all see across this country and the western world, there are numerous Dingwalls bitching and complaining about their loss of entitlements.

Some of them have a right to their complaints – others like the spoiled University Students in Quebec do not.

But the fact remains, many are complaining – some violently – and it will only get worse as Western Democracies try to get their debts and deficits under control in the face of their aging populations.  Fewer and Fewer will be working and paying taxes for more and more retirees.

Dear Reader – it is simply a fact of life and a fact of the times we now live in.

I truly wish it were otherwise.  I too like my entitlements – indeed if it could be, I would like to see us all ‘entitled’ from birth to grave – sounds heavenly as indeed it would be.  The trouble with this scenario is that only workaholics would be left to do the heavy lifting and they too would soon tire of supporting the rest.

So what is the answer?

Well that is the simple part – cut spending – but that should have started 20 years ago.  Sadly we have left it too late.  Certainly for the PIIG Countries of Europe. It will get done, but how much greater the pain.  When cutbacks would have worked years ago, we now face massive slashing.

Now this leads me to Prime Minister Harper – bless him.  He and his Government are doing many things right – despite the comments of the Liberal Media.  But he is also doing some things wrong – e.g. prison expansion.  There are already too many incarcerated that need not be.

But I also believe his reduction in the Civil Service is being done incorrectly too.  Not that it does not need to be drastically reduced – it does – but we here in Canada are still a little bit better off than many European Nations – we still have time – I think – to go about these reductions more humanely.

If I was Prime Minister for a day – here is what I would do:

1.  I would let attrition do its thing.  I am a boomer and am retired from the civil service – there are many, many like me who are about to call it a work day so to speak and if given a little time – there would be thousands leaving.

2.  Consultants – get rid of them – they are charging you and I on average $800 a day for work that a motivated bureaucracy could and should do.

3.  Term Employees – send them out the door – but send them with a number.  They will be needed once the boomers retire in great number.  Tell them they will come back if they still wanted to at that time.

4. If that does not balance the books – then impose an across the board wage reduction – say 10% starting with the Prime Minister’s salary and working down from there.  If that is not enough – set the rate of reduction to the point where it does the trick.

Bottom line – the civil service does not lose any permanent staff involuntarily.

The Unions will still bitch as their membership (power) decreases, but it is not only the most humane way to proceed – it is also the right way to proceed.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

Four Letters In The Mail …

 

And by Snail Mail no less!!

“Mr. Smith, I have today’s mail for you”

“Thank you Diane”   “Only 4” ?

“That’s all today, sir”.

“Well let’s see what we have here – oh first a letter from the local Town Council”:

Attention:  Donald Smith, President of ACME Manufacturing – Dear Don:

Our Council would like to honour you and your company to celebrate your company’s presence in our community for the past 100 years.  We are most indebted to you, and to your late father and grandfather for the vision in choosing to come to our town.

As you know, ACME is our largest employer and over the past century has enabled millions upon millions of dollars to be spent in our fair community.  Moreover, for each of your 100 employees, another 2 to 3 jobs have been created in spin-off.

Given this we would like to host a dinner in your honour at a time suitable to yourself.  Please therefore let us know if you are agreeable to our suggestion, and if so, what date would be most suitable, to you, to hold the dinner.

Sincerely,

The Mayor

p.s.  As we do not have a budget for such dinners we are counting on you and your employees to purchase the tickets in advance and to arrange for their sale to the broader community.

“Well I was truly honoured until I read their p.s.”

“What’s next”?

“A letter from the Province of Ontario”

Dear Mr. Smith,

We regret to advise you that our recent budget provides a surcharge on your income tax since our records show, in the past year, you earned an income in the top 1% of Ontario Taxpayers.

We know that this is not particularly good news for you but trust you will realize what a patriotic thing you are doing on all our citizens’ behalf'.

Sincerely

Treasurer of Ontario

“You xxxxx, you’ve got a lot of nerve”.

“Oh I see my accountant has written – maybe I should have started with his letter first”

Hi Don,

Not much good news to report, indeed most of it is quite bleak.

ACME’s costs continue to climb especially due to the 300% hike in the hydro rates.  Since ACME is selling internationally, you are competing with numerous others who are not burdened by such radical increases and thus your ability to pass these increases along to your customers is greatly impaired. 

On the good news side, since costs are up, income will be down and I suspect, the new provincial surcharge on high income earners will not apply to you in the current year.

Should you wish to discuss this further, I am at your disposal.

Sincerely,

Your hard working accountant

“He is becoming far too jolly for my liking”

“So what’s next”?

“A foreign stamp”?

Dear Mr. Smith,

A letter from your neighbour to the south. 

Did you know we are only 60 miles apart as the crow flies?

We understand that costs are ever climbing for you especially as they relate to taxes and energy and we’d like to offer you a solution.

First, in regard to your increasing hydro costs.  Did you know that we obtain our hydro from another one of your neighbours – Quebec, for less than 6 cents per kwh?  That is a third to a quarter of what you are now paying commercially and, as you know, the differential will only worsen over time.

Plus our taxes are the lowest among industrial countries.  We can guarantee you that your taxes here will decline by at least 50% and that is before taking into account the new Ontario surtax on high income earners.

Finally, just to sweeten things even more for you; our municipality is prepared to build you a factory – all equipment in, and rent it to you at cost – with the first 10 years being entirely rent free.

Hopefully Mr. Smith you have not fallen off your chair.

I will telephone you within the next two days with a view to arranging a face to face meeting so we can explore this exciting possibility together.

Kindest regards,

Your Friendly Southern Neighbour

“Why didn’t I read this letter first”?

“Diane, get me my wife on the phone and then my accountant”.

Change is afoot in Ontario.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

Story Time; or should we say Stories ....

Now let me tell you a story about Little Red Riding Hood and Pinocchio; they have something in common and something quite different from one another, beside the red cloak and long nose.

In common, they are both big spenders and lovers of big government.  They differ in that Little Red Riding Hood is not afraid to tell the truth about her big spending ways.  Pinocchio, as his name implies, cannot bring himself to admit his failing.

Little Red Riding Hood won a spectacular victory last eve in Alberta while Pinocchio preserved his minority government by doing a deal with the Devil.  Both will end their careers one day with very healthy taxpayer funded pensions.  It is the rest of us who will be on our own.

They are similar in another respect - both lead left of centre parties - more like the NDP than the PC and Liberal Parties they pretend to lead.

Singularly and together they represent a failure for Canada.

Canada's debt, combined with Provincial debt and pension shortfalls, rival Europe and the United States in the race to declare bankruptcy first.  The two initiatives of yesterday, gives great boost to Canada's efforts to claim the prize first.

All Provinces east of, and including Ontario, are now classified as have-not.  Only two provinces now fund the rest - Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Yesterday's election will insure that Alberta's ability to continue its largess will become more and more impaired. 

For Ontario, we have already seen an out flow of manufacturing and entrepreneurs and this trend will only accelerate.  I suspect the prime beneficiary of this out flow will be the United States as it continues to move to recovery.

McGuinty and Alison 'the Red' Redford, are totally ignoring what is taking place in such states as Spain and Greece.  Both have unemployment rates in excess of 20% while those under 25 face a rate exceeding 50%.

The majority of Canadians continue to live in a dream world and seem to love stories like the two above.  In unemployment, they will have lots of reading time.

As I see it...

'K.D. Galagher'

Peter MacKay Still Number One …

 

At least in my books.

The Opposition and Liberal Press are now calling for MacKay’s resignation in light of the Auditor General’s criticism of DND in the F-35 procurement.

Indeed, I did a Blog way back when somewhat critical of this expenditure too but along the way have had to modify my position.

My main concern about this expenditure then centred on the fact that, as a middle power, Canada could not, nor should not, seek out such ‘Cadillac’ military hardware to begin with. I cannot recall if I said so at the time, but my concern was subject to what other NATO nations were doing in this area.  If collectively they had decided that this was the best military plane to buy then we here in Canada needed to be onside too and this turned out to be exactly what had occurred.  The Tories for some reason did not properly explain this.

I have said on countless occasions that the days of relying upon the USA for world protection are quickly coming to an end if for no other reason than they are broke.  If the world is to remain as safe as possible – it will not be the United Nations that steps up to the plate – it will be NATO.  And with NATO deciding that the best aircraft to buy is the F-35 – then Canada needs to acquire its fair share. We cannot go into battle with each member nation employing different machines.

And to build on that, Canada as well as the other NATO Nations need to be taking more of their marching orders from NATO rather than the UN which is now dominated by petty tyrants, megalomaniacs, crooks and thieves. 

But there is another reason why we need the very best in aircraft.  The days of the ground wars are also coming to an end. Vietnam, Iraq, and currently Afghanistan have taught the West the futility of sending in ‘boots on the ground’.  We need to Rule from the Skies.  If and when an enemy pokes his head out of his cave or wherever, blow it off from above.  We saw a good example of this in Libya where NATO did its thing in the air, led by a Canadian General no less, while the locals did the mop-up from below. 

So the future of warfare, dear reader, is in the air.  We’ll still need boats to transport and support the planes but the heavy lifting will be done by our piloted planes and pilotless drones. The huge casualties as sustained by young Americans over the years will be a thing of the past.  When ground action is required it will fall to the special forces to execute and then quickly get the hell out.

So there you have it.

Maybe DND did not procure properly, but it did the right thing.  The problem then is with respect to our Procurement Requirements so we need to get to work and update them so they work in everyone’s favour but the bad guys.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’