Who Was Flim-Flamming Who ??

 

Note:  Before I go into the details, I want to let you know that I am going to cut back on the number of Blogs I have been churning out of late and focus more on the Book I have been working on – off and on – in regard to Investing.  I will certainly do a Blog in regard to the final Presidential Debate and then of course, one on the Day after the November 6th US Election.  G.

Now For The Flim-Flam:

I received a telephone call the other morning and it went something along the following lines:

Ring, Ring

Hello?  (me)

Caller – “Sir I am pleased to tell you that you have won $3.5 million dollars.

Me – “That is indeed great news – how so?”

Caller – “Your 6/49 win.”

Me – “That is even better news since I do not play 6/49.”

Caller – “Well you won anyway.”

Me – “Great, where do I pick up my $3.5 million?”

Caller – “Not to worry, we will deliver it to you”

Me – “That’s even better – when?”

Caller – “Later Today”

Me – “Why this is great service – what time later today can I expect you?”

Caller – “An hour or so after you send us $75, we need this money to cover the cost of the delivery.”

Me – “Well that is most reasonable, are you sure $75 is enough for all your trouble – I could pay more if you want.”

Caller – “No, $75 is fine”

Me – “Okay, I have that much on me right now so I look forward to seeing you in an hour or so".”

Caller – “You do not pay the delivery person directly, rather you need to get a Money Gramm and send it to the name and address I am going to give you in Sault Ste. Morie.

Me – “Sault Ste. Morie?”

Caller – “Yes Sault Ste. Morie.”

Me – “Just confirming.”

Caller then gives me a name and address in Sault Ste. Morie.

Caller – “How long will it take for you to send the money gramm?”

Me – “Could be a problem – I live in a rural area and do not know where the nearest money gramm centre is”.

Caller – “Go to your nearest Post Office”

Me – “Good idea – there in one close to where I live, so it should only take me 30 minutes - 45 at the most”.

Caller – “That’s great, I will call you back in about an hour to confirm it has been sent”.

Me – “And then I can expect to receive the 3.5?”

Caller – “Absolutely.

I then immediately call the Ottawa Police to let them know this transaction was going down – so to speak.

Ottawa Police – “We really do not get into this type of fraud – you need to call the Province’s Special Fraud Squad Office”  - (I am given their number).

I then place a call to Ontario’ Special Fraud Squad Office (OSFSO) – it is a minute past noon, and I get the following recording: “we have all gone to lunch, call back after one p.m.”  I guess they expect fraud to take time off for lunch as well.

I call back at a minute after 1 p.m. – (the 6/49 fellow had yet to call be back).  I get the following recording “all of our secret* agents are on the phone with others like you who are being scammed…your call is important to us …”   (Note * I confess the word ‘secret’ is my own).

Anyway, I wait, and I wait and wait, 45 minutes go by and no secret agent has been available to take my pressing call – all the while – every 20 seconds or so a recording triggers advising me of all of the fraud cases that the OSFSO does not deal with (e.g. employment fraud).

Finally, my call gets answered.

I explain to the nice chap what has transpired and when I finish, he tells me that there is nothing they can do – other than to document my complaint.  He does suggest I might want to let the Money Gramm folks know about their service being abused.

I tell the dear chap if he believes Money Gramm needs to hear from someone – it best be him and not me.  (I figured at this point I had done my duty).

Before I hang up though he explains briefly to me how the scam works – Victim buys the money gramm and sends it off to the name and address provided him, – the scammers then go into their nearest money gramm office and intercept the payment. 

The agent then tells me – by the bye – that the scammer is physically located in Jamaica.  The agent knows this because he recognizes the exchange of the telephone number I have provided to him.

I thank him and await the Scammers call.

As if on cue, the phone rings – Scammer “did you send the money gramm?”

Me – “well I got to the Post Office and they did not have money gramms – so I sent a money order.

Scammer – “where did you send it”

Me – “to the name and address you provided to me”

A Pause

And then this …

“You LyAAAAR” …”You –(blank) - LYYAAAAR”

Me – “Does this mean I should not expect the $3.5 million”

Scammer – “Yes”

Me – Oh, by the way, how is the weather there in Jamaica.

Scammer – “Not too bad”.

I hang up.

As I saw it …

‘K. D. Galagher’

 

 

ELVIS Has Left The Building …

 

Or at least, our esteemed leader Dalton McGuinty has and, like Elvis, he left by the Back Door.

You dear reader can well imagine that I am not surprised by this cowardly act, but I am most disappointed.

McGuinty, as I have categorized on numerous occasions, has single headedly brought this once Proud Province to its knees.  That he now sneaks off into the sunset with his healthy Premier’s Pension in tact, is a slap in the face to all those who put their trust in him.

When the time came for him to face up to his misguided and costly initiatives, he caved. 

Some Leader.

Moreover, with his Prorogation of the Legislature, he has effectively neutered the Opposition in its attempts to cast light on his many scandals, most notably the recent one involving the shutting down of the Two Power Plants days prior to the last Election.

The fact is, the Tories and NDP were getting too close on this important file; talk had begun about the need to call in the Cops.

The Voters of this Province, on three separate occasions, voted McGuinty in – so I am not overly concerned about their welfare.  They are reaping what they sowed.  And the fallout will continue for some time to come, regardless of who becomes the new Lib Leader or which Party wins the next election.

I am just saddened by the fact that the guy who created the mess will not be around to witness, first hand, the extent of the damage.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

 

 

The Most Important Freedom We Have …

 

IS THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH… all the other freedoms pale in comparison.

But Sadly, we in Canada do not have it.

This week past, saw a supposed pastor, Terry Jones, denied entry into our country because he has a tendency to burn Korans.  Not a nice person, but not so un-nice that we can be denied our right to hear what he says, whether we agree with him or not. 

This is what Democracy is based upon.

The only time a person should be thwarted in his or her efforts to speak and be heard, is if they are directly calling for death or injury to someone or some group.  For instance, “all Martians should be burned in the street.”

And dear reader, we have laws that deal specifically with those types of situations, they are adequately – indeed perhaps too adequately, encompassed in our country’s criminal code.

What we do not need are Kangaroo Courts a.k.a Human Rights Tribunals, stamping out Freedom of Speech in their Zeal to Cleanse the Mouths and Minds of Society.  The right to say and hear what other people think is the fundamental thing that separates Democracy from Dictatorship.

Recently, we saw and heard the spectacle of the President of Iran delivering his annual address to the United Nations. His rants, said more about how  vile he and his administration is, than his silence could ever portray.  This, then, is the value of retaining the United Nations – but I digress.

But now here in Canada, we have a guy denied entry into our country for burning books.

I could try to pull at your heart strings and tell you about the thousands of our soldiers who have died for our Freedoms and indeed they did, but in the scheme of the things that is not the issue here.  True, those dead soldiers made it possible for us to Live in Freedom, but it is up to Those Of Us Among The Living to see that our Freedom Survives.

So What To Do?

First, in the case of Terry Jones, we need to know who exactly made the decision to turn him back at the border and on what supposed authority. Given the importance of this, once it is known, I would send the bureaucrat or politician packing.

Second, we should demand that the Human Rights Tribunals be all disbanded.

Third, we need to tell our fellow citizens that if they are not prepared to think for themselves, then sooner or later, someone will step and do their thinking for them.  

In Canada, and indeed around the Western World, this can already be seen happening.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

Biden for Prez….

 

Last eve was the one and only Vice Presidential Debate and I scored it 3:1 for Joe Biden.

That is even higher than the 2:1 I gave Romney over Obama – 2:1.

Biden’s style may not have been the best, but he played with Ryan throughout like a cat plays with a doomed mouse.

It did not have to be so.

Throughout, Ryan let Biden have his way with him.  For instance, Biden continually smiled and smirked when Ryan was speaking – all Ryan had to do was to publicly notice Biden’s disrespectful antics and say something along the following lines:

Mr. Vice President, you seem to find all this very funny – the fact is it is not funny at all – more American’s than ever before are out of work, the deficit is running at over a $Trillion Dollars a year,  the Middle East is burning …and you have the nerve to sit there and laugh – shame on you.

That is all it would have taken.

But sadly, Ryan did not do that.

I predict that his failure will cost the Republicans’ 1 to 2% points in popular support. These numbers would have been even greater had it been the Presidential Candidates slugging it out.

Now the spotlight returns to the 2 main Presidential events left – the Town Hall Session next week and the Debate on Foreign Affairs the week after that. The pressure will be on Romney to win both making it a 3-pete.

But as for last night – Obama owes Biden …Big Time.

As I see it…

‘K. D. Galagher’

It takes a 14 year old girl…

 

The Taliban put a bullet into the brain of a 14 year old child because the young girl was defying them by wanting to keep going to school.

Her name is Malala Yousufzai.

This young lady has more courage than the the rest of us put together.  She knew this ugly sect was out to get her, but that did not deter her from the goal of getting an education.

The Taliban has vowed to kill her yet and has placed the young girl’s family on their death list as well. 

As I have mentioned in recent Blogs, the Middle East and Northern Africa have been lost to the Radical Islamists and once the Americans pull out of Afghanistan, it too will quickly revert to Taliban Rule.

This will be viewed as a failure but no so.  The West showed these groups of violent men that it would no longer tolerate their acts of violence and once out of these Regions – the West will be able to continue to wreck vengeance on them from the air with impunity. 

What the West also did by confronting this evil was give the Muslim People an opportunity to stand up against the Islamists.  The fact that Muslims were not able to do so, is probably understandable given the situation they confront i.e. a society that for all intents and purposes is still mired in the middle ages. 

But there was a Arab Spring and for the first time came hope and I predict that the Spring will eventually come to stay despite the best efforts of the Extremist to see it otherwise.  Time is against these fanatics but it won’t happen over night.

The real and only solution then is for the Ordinary People of the Middle East and North Africa to stand up against Islamic Tyranny.  

They will, since a Young Girl by the name of Malala has shown them the way.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

Is It Just Me, Or Do You Too Believe …

 

That Canada has a Big ‘P’ on its forehead for ‘Patsy’.

In Today’s Liberal Organ, a.k.a. The Ottawa Citizen, Hugh Adami writes a column entitled ‘Canada Shrugs As Immigration Rulings Fracture A Family’.

Sounds awful … doesn’t it, but let’s dig a little deeper into the facts:

Mrs. age 69, was born and raised in the Soviet Union; Mr. age 70, in Cuba.  They subsequently married and lived together in Cuba.

Last year, they made application to Canada’s Refugee Board both claiming Refugee Status and both were rightfully turned down.

Before I go further, you need to understand what is entailed in a Refugee Claim.  Most immigrants coming to Canada come via the standard immigration application, that is to say, they apply in their home country to move and live in Canada for numerous reasons – to be with family, to better themselves economically etc. 

But there is a tiny exception to the rule; a person who has a genuine fear of Persecution in their Home Country can apply within other Countries for Protection under the United Nations Convention for Refugees – that is to say, they can prove they will be Persecuted for Reasons of Race, Religion, Political Opinion and so on. Surprisingly, about 40,000 people per year make such a claim within Canada’s borders.

I worked for the Refugee Board and I suspect less than only 5% of claimants have a genuine claim – it is probably closer to 1 or 2%.  The remainder are ‘cue jumpers’ – rather than apply the normal way to become an immigrant to Canada, they use the short-circuited route of making up false claims for Refugee Status. 

This is what Mrs. and Mr. did in the case at hand.  The Refugee Board correctly dismissed their claims and ordered them both deported – Mrs. to Russia since that is the citizenship she holds and Mr. back to Cuba – he being a citizen of that country.

Now the bleeding hearts.

Cuba arbitrarily refused to take Mr. back so we in Canada are stuck with him.  If I were Harper, I would say to the Brothers Castro – you take back your life long citizen or we in Canada cease playing tourist on your beaches.  I suspect that they would have him back on the next plane out.

But the Adami Article article really focuses on the Mrs. – the Russian Citizen.  Russia will take her back but according to the family she no longer has any ties in that country.  I wonder if that statement could withstand scrutiny but say it is true – so what?  He is Cuban and she is Russian and neither are entitled Refugee Status.  To compound the issue is the fact that Mrs. is in poor health and I need not point out to you that our Health System is now collapsing under its own weight.

The Bottom-line here is why is it Canada’s responsibility to step forward and be the boy scout in this sad but all too frequent a situation?

We always seem to be cast as such.

In the Mahar case, the United States sent him to Syria where he was allegedly tortured but Canada coughed up a cool $10 million dollars for his pain and suffering.

In the current Kahdr case, he cowardly killed a US Medic who left behind a widow and 2 orphans.  And yet, it is Canada he sues and if history repeats itself, he too will likely hit the $million dollar Canadian Jackpot.

So dear reader, I leave it to you to decide what is the right thing to do in regard to Mrs. Russia and Mr. Cuba.

As for me, I would probably reluctantly give in and let them both stay here. But it does make you, as a Canadian, feel used.

I would also like to think that some of our left wing papers would at least be a little more balanced when reporting on such cases – they treat each case like it was the only one – i.e. no big deal – but it is a big deal since, as I said in the beginning, 10s of thousands are making similar requests yearly without the facts to support their claims. The columnists should drop their inflammatory words and admit that the issue is not so cut and dry.

In the end, if we say let them all stay regardless of the facts – then at least shut down the Refugee Board to save a few quid. We’ll need the money.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

The Great Presidential Debates …

 

Have Begun.

I have been saying that the upcoming US Election is one of the most important in the history of the United States and indeed in the history of the West and permit me to briefly recap why:

• America’s Debt now exceeds its entire annual GDP – $16 Trillion and counting;
• It’s true Unemployment Rate is above 40% (that is to say, the percentage of those of working age who do not have a job);
• 50 Million – 1 in 6, are on food stamps;
• 100 Million – 1 in 3, are on government assistance;
• The Fed is printing money like its confetti;
• Europe is floundering, riots are occurring daily and the EU may well disintegrate;
• The Middle East in on fire and is ready to explode;
• Iran has the Bomb and is now perfecting its delivery capability;
• Israel is its nearby target whom the Islamists have declared to drive out into the sea;
• China has begun to flex its military might against Japan.

So unless things turn around dramatically, the United States will collapse in on its own weight at a time when the world is in great need of its leadership.

Obama has contributed mightily to this sad state of affairs.  His domestic policies have not staunched the red ink – they have greatly added to the flow.  His foreign policies have not brought about greater stability – just opposite.  And yet…

With an Election but a month away – he should be down in the single digits of support.  He is not –most polls (all?) up to last night’s debate, show him holding a lead over his Republican Rival.

(Even here in Ontario, at least the electorate has finally awoken and now places McGuinty and Company in the low 20s in support – but not so the electorate south of the border).

And there is a lot more at stake there, than here.

So back to last evening. Romney out shone Obama 2:1.  Thank Heavens.

And this being the first of three debates, I believe it to have been the most important one.  Within a few days I predict the polls will reflect better for the Republicans.  Not dramatically, because America is split right down the centre as Romney so aptly put it: ‘47%, the takers, are going to support Obama regardless of his disastrous policies’.  But my friends, the needle is about to move in Romney’s favour.

I have said from the very beginning that Romney will win on November 6th and I am standing by that.  Not just because I am conservative in my philosophy but because we collectively are not strong enough to endure another 4 years of a President who does not have a sweet clue as to the damage he is doing to us all.

 As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’