Spitting into the Wind …

 

I would have preferred stronger language however …

Am of course speaking of the little guy currently occupying the White House and his about to be released attack on Syria.

It will do nothing nor mean anything.

There was a time a couple of years back when it would have been timely – i.e. topple an enemy leader and show the world that the West has no time for truly bad guys.

Now positions have hardened so in the fields of Syria we find two bad guys – tweedle dee and tweedle dum as it were – aka the Government of Syria along with extreme Iranian backed thugs on one hand and on the other side – Al Qaeda backed extremists.

You have to wish that both sides lose at this point.

So here is where the dear little guy enters the picture.  So what should he do?

But first let’s take a step back:

The west, led by the United States, has declared war on Al Qaeda this despite the fact that the little guy who currently occupies the White House refuses to define who exactly Al Qaeda consists of.

In addition there are three nations which are bitter opponents of the West  - namely, Iran, Syria and North Korea.  (China and Russia are in line to join this select group).

Given this we in the west should be doing everything in our power to defeat these 3 countries and this one terrorist group.

So this takes us back to the situation in Syria.

When the trouble started there two or so years ago – the U.S. should have taken President Assad out – rather than Libya’s harmless clown Gaddafi.

It would have shown to the world – especially to muslim terrorists and to the other 2 rogue states that it does not pay to plot and scheme against Western Democracies.

The opportunity was squandered by the little guy who currently occupies the White House in his mistaken belief that he could befriend these psychopaths.

Moving ahead today – he finds himself drawn into a conflict where both sides are his stated enemies.

Some say – including many of our distinguished military that we should sit on our hands and let the two devils go at it.

Humanitarians amongst us say we have to do something because Assad has stooped to using chemical weapons.

Obama has let it be known that he wants to do a 1 to 3 day surgical strike – meaning an air strike to diminish Syria’s ability to strike the rebels from the sky – e.g. by planes / missiles.

If he goes ahead with that plan – after the surgical strike – things will return to normal – and the current conflict will be guaranteed to go on and on.

Hence the title of Spitting into the wind.

So Galagher, what should the West do?

As I have said, Assad should have been taken out at the very beginning … before the current positions hardened.

Failure to have done that – leaves only the solution of imposing a no fly (no missile) zone over Syria for the remainder of the conflict – similar to that imposed by NATO on Libya.

This will even the match and reduce civilian causalities including the horrendous gassing of Syrians that we just witnessed.

The Little Guy’s surgical response will come and go. 

Eventually though the no fly zone will be imposed.

By all means – a boots on the ground approach should never happen ever.  We have seen plenty of evidence in this new century and last – that it no longer works especially in non-democratic countries such as these.

Regardless though of what action is now taken by us – evil will be the eventual winner in Syria and the real losers will be the Syrian people themselves.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

 

Young Trudeau is now 2 for 2

 

I am shocked …he is the only federal leader who has unequivocally come out against Quebec’s plan to legislate against basic religious freedoms.

Do you suspect their reticence has anything to do with the fact that 77% of Francophones are four square in favour of these proposed restrictions?

If you don’t believe that you are likely members in good standing in the flat earth society.

But the fact is, Trudeau is the only one with the courage enough to come out in favour of religious freedom despite the fact that it could hurt him electorally in his home Province.  He has said publicly that Quebec’s position makes it the laughing stock of the world. 

(Something his late father would have said despite my personally dislike for his policies generally).  

Indeed, Trudeau’s chances for success rest upon his doing well in that very province: – simply stated, if he does not take away a large number of those Quebec seats currently in the NDP column he is most unlikely to come victorious.

So what gives?

I am not sure but the fact remains – he has taken a righteous stand while the rest duck and hide.

Another poll shows that over 40% of Canadians generally support Madame Marois and her PQ cronies.

It is hard for me to imagine how quickly we in Canada and indeed in the West are so quick to give up our hard earned freedoms.

So mark me two for two for Young Trudeau.

If he keeps this up …who knows what the future holds.

As I see it …

(next blog – what should NATO do in regard to Syria)

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

Flying High …

 

Young Trudeau, that is, with his admission this week that he has tried ……….hold it…….. Marijuana.

Imagine – just like many – dare I say most – Canadians.

The oldsters – are aghast.

But even though I fit in that category ..in this case.. I am on YT’s side in his wish to see the drug legalized.

In truth I support the interim step of decriminalization but only in the sense that it would be a temporary stop leading to full legalization.

I am not so sure that Harper – given his following ambiguous statement, does not believe as I do but I leave that assessment for another time.

He said upon learning of YT’s statement – this revelation speaks for itself.  Whatever that was intended to mean.

In past Blogs I have spoken out against the criminalization of MJ for the main reason dear reader – is that it does not work.  Anymore than prohibition did the dirty thirties.

Again I say, the War on Drugs was lost a long time ago.

That does not mean I will run out and buy a dimes worth any time soon – I abhor its use and would be most disturbed if any of my friends or love ones got into it.

And for the record – I, unlike YT, have never tried the stuff.

But thanks to its current criminalization – it is so easy to obtain.

Criminals are making a bundle off of the MJ trade and the Cops are also able to pad their ranks in their futile attempts at stamping it out.

So the winners in the current criminal regime are the bad guys and the good guys.

The losers are the rest of us -  the users and if you will – the taxpayers since we lose out on the major tax revenues that could be reaped in a legalized regime – cigarettes and booze anyone.

Users, I believe, would be much better off since with legalization, the focus would turn to treatment and advertising the ill effects of drug use and heaven knows with the monies saved on wasted policing and lost tax revenues – their would be plenty of dough around to do the job.

Moreover, bringing the issue out in the open would allow society to bring its influence to bear on users much the same way it has in ostracizing cigarette smokers.

Simply stated, it will become far less cool to inhale dirty smoke if it becomes legal to do so.

As you know, I am at heart a Libertarian so if in the end someone wants to impair their life via the use of marijuana – well that’s their decision – they are only hurting themselves.

In addition, there are so many areas where we need good policing such as with regard to Human Trafficking.

Young Trudeau is on to something here but it is just about the only thing he has said with which I agree.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

HIS WORSHIP ???

 

Rob Ford of Toronto …of course.

Appearing drunk …again … this past weekend at a public event.

The dear fellow appears to have a death wish – at least politically speaking.

And yet… the Ford Nation has once again rallied around their man.

The common refrain seems to be ‘he is just human like us’.

Or you could say, he totally lacks self control.  In fact .. that is my take on it.

Let’s put ourselves in his shoes for a minute:

You or I are Mayor of the largest city in Canada and one of the largest cities in North America and rumours are rife …for good reason..that you or I have a substance abuse problem.

So how would you / I go about addressing that negative perception.

You are right …we certainly would not go out in public tipsy..

And we certainly would not then go public and brag about it.

The bottom-line here is that Mayor Ford lacks discipline and is this the type of person you would want to elect as one of your leaders?

My answer of course is no – but I leave it to you to answer that yourself.

Clearly a number see this all to be quite refreshing – a leader has come down to their level which sadly is not all that unusual these days.

I think it does show clearly that many of our leaders have indeed reduced themselves to the common denominator and this is nothing to rejoice about.

But I also think of the Office itself – in the case at hand – the Mayoralty of the City of Toronto.  There is a certain responsibility the holder of that office owes the office itself; things like dignity, responsibility, trustworthiness.

So if Ford cannot act with decorum for himself, he should at least do it for the Office.

It used to be that way and often for little or no remuneration.  Just for the Honour of serving.

I say this as a Libertarian Tory and I know that Ford falls into that camp but in so doing, he does not get a pass from me. 

It is time for Ford to grow up or get out.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

A New Way To Spell DISTAIN …

 

L-A-U-R-A   M-I-L-L-E-R

As in Dalton McGuinty’s former deputy Chief of Staff.

At Committee Hearings into the Gas Plant Closures last week, Ms. Miller showed utter distain for the Committee, the Legislature, the People of Ontario and most importantly and sadly, for Herself.

Let’s listen in:

When it was suggested by one Committee Member that she was up to her neck in the scandal, Miller sarcastically “thanked” the Member for his elevated opinion of her.

And when it was stated that she played a “pivotal role” in all of this, Miller faked flattery and said that she would be sure to include it in her future c.v.

With such ‘challenged’ staff, no wonder the McGuinty Government will go down as the worst in Ontario’s History.

With some $3 Billion Dollars wasted in this scandal alone, you have a smart-mouth staffer dissing in person the very democratic process designed to get to the bottom of it, in the hope that it does not happen again.  

Had I been the Committee Chair, this young lady would have been cited for contempt.  Unfortunately, the Chair was a Liberal and no such action was taken.

That things at Queen’s Parked have spiralled down so far, a general election cannot come too soon.

And speaking of such an Election – if I was advising the Provincial Tories I would suggest that one of their campaign ads contain certain select segments from last week’s Hearing.

As I see it…

“K.D. Galagher’

 

Ontario Byelections …

 

What do you think they mean Galagher – if anything?

And here is what I think:

• The Tories will win the next general provincial election;
• The big winner last evening was the NDP;
• The big loser …was Kathleen Wynne – followed closely by Tim Hudak.

How so?

Well let’s look at the numbers:

1. Etobicoke-Lakeshore;

        The PC vote went up from 2011 (29.5) to 46% last evening and a win – a gain of some +16.5 per cent.

    The Liberal vote went down from (51%) to 42% a drop of some - 9%.

 

2.   London West:

      The NDP vote went up from 16% in 2011 to winning last eve with 45.65% a gain of +30 %

   The Liberals dropped from 45.65 % to 16 % last evening a drop of nearly 30%

    3.   Ottawa South:

      The Liberals won taking 42% of the vote – but it represented a drop of –7%.

The Tories lost but their popular vote increased from 33.4% to 39% a gain of some +5.5%

   4.   Scarborough – Guildwood

    The Liberals took this riding as well with 36% of the vote – down from 49% in the last general provincial election – a loss of some – 13%

The Tories – vote increased marginally from 28.6% to 31% last night – a gain of about +3.5%.

The NDP had the greatest increase here going from 19.4% to 28% a gain of + 9%.

   5.   Windsor Tecumseh

    The NDP won this going away increasing their % of the vote from 33 to 61% – some +28%

The Liberals dropped from 42.8% to 12% a fall of some – 30%.

A summary:

The Liberal Vote on average dropped from 47.5% to 29.5 an overall decline of -18.00%

The Conservative Vote on average increased from 28% to 34% an increase of +6%.  Of greater importance – the Tory average vote of 34% is higher than the Liberal average of 29.60 % and this coming from long time Liberal held ridings.

The NBP average % vote in these 5 byelection ridings was up from 20.5% in 2011 to 30.5% an increase of +10%.  So even though this represents a substantial come back for the Dippers – it still falls short of the overall Tory %.

The big takeaway here is that these byelections last night were held in staunch long time Grit Ridings.

The numbers – as per above – are instructive in that they show the Liberals to be very much on the ropes – regardless how the Wynnites try to spin it.

Strange as it may seem – the big winner last night turns out to be the Tory Party – despite gaining only 1 seat – and at the same time, one of the big losers is Tim Hudak – for the that self same reason – he only won one, out of 5 last night.

And although the NDP appears to be the big winner – it really isn’t since it does not resonate with Ontarians generally.

Simply stated these 5 ridings are not representative of the majority and the fact that the Tories received the highest overall % average is quite amazing.

Hopefully when these facts sink in – talk about replacing Hudak will stop; the bottom-line is that even with a weak leader – the Tories should form Ontario's next Government.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

Gun Control …. Maybe Its Time Has Come

 

And not to control the bad guys; rather to control our cops !!

It seems that barely a week goes by when we do not hear of a police killing / shooting someone on Canadian streets.  (In America, one person per day is shot and killed by their police).

The most recent example occurred in Toronto this past Friday when 18 year old Sammy Yatim was gunned down by a bevy of Toronto’s finest.

I do not know, nor do I care whether young Sammy was white, black or polka dot – he was a human being like you and me.  And by all accounts he was a great guy.

But again, I do not care if he was as mean as a junk yard dog – he did not deserve to die.

I say this because unfortunately for the police, the shooting was caught on tape.  Here was a guy hold-up in an otherwise empty streetcar – armed with a knife. If he was a danger to anyone – it was to himself.

The cops on the other hand had the bus totally surrounded and accordingly had numerous ways open to them to deal with this situation: they could have simply waited Sammy out; or they could have lobbed a stun grenade into the bus; or finally they could have resorted to their tasers.

But no – this pack decided the situation called for nothing short of a shoot out – a one way barrage that cut the young guy down like a scythe through ripened wheat.

It is obvious here that this chap was mentally ill as are many of these victims. They are society’s most vulnerable and it is sad to say the ones they may fear the most are the ones paid to protect them. 

It does not bodes well for the rest of us.

Just this past month here in Ottawa, another mentally ill fellow was shot off the hood of car – once in the arm and once in the chest.  He fortunately survived. This chap too held a knife but what real danger were the police in – armed as they were with guns and presumably stun guns?

Where do these bozos come from?

We all remember only too well the senseless killing of Robert Dziekanski in the Vancouver Airport by a pack of RCMP.  Dziekanski was ‘armed’ with a tiny collapsible table which justified the police to take him down with 5 shots of the taser gun. They then stood idly by and did nothing as his life slipped out of him.

Just today a fellow died in Kingston General Hospital of several gun shots wounds delivered by the Sharbot detachment of the OPP. The official statement indicated that it was the result of an interaction between the allegedly armed 45 year old.

In the past, such stories would not evoke scepticism about the circumstances surrounding such a death – but that has all changed.  I still hope the police did the right thing in this particular case – but would not be surprised if it turns out to be another instance where they over-reacted.

I am not dissing all police – of course not – but there are far too many instances of late where certain police have over-reacted – often when they find themselves travelling in packs.

Maybe it is time to take their arms from them and let them walk the beat as Bobbies did in days of yore.

We might all be safer.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

Often these shootings are of people who are mentally disturbed.