Finding Gog - By Jack Kelley

Those who labor to understand the nuances of the battle described in Ezekiel 38-39 quickly identify two major puzzles. One is the timing of the battle and the other is the identity of Gog, from Magog. Suffice it to say here that almost no scholar, certainly none I’m aware of, believes the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 has already taken place. Some believe it will occur just before the beginning of Daniel’s 70th Week, while others believe Ezekiel is actually describing the Battle of Armageddon, which would put it at the end of the Great Tribulation. But all place it sometime in our future.

In my opinion, there are several reasons why Ezekiel 38 can’t be part of the Armageddon scenario. First, only some nations are involved in Ezekiel 38. For example, Saudi Arabia and Western Europe are said to be on the sidelines observing and others you would expect to see, like Egypt and Jordan, are not mentioned at all, although both appear later on. But Zechariah 12:3 says that in preparation for the Battle of Armageddon all the nations of the Earth will come against Jerusalem.

Second, how is Israel going to burn the left over weapons for 7 years as Ezekiel 39:9 indicates unless there are 7 years left in which to burn them? Rev. 21:24. says the nations will walk by the light of the New Jerusalem in the Millennium, so they won’t need fuel for energy then. And then you have Ezekiel 38:11 telling us that Israel will be a peaceful and unsuspecting people when the Moslem coalition strikes. Could that be possible near the end of the Great Tribulation when all the nations are gathering to attack? I don’t think so.

But most importantly, Daniel’s 70th week can’t start until Israel is back in covenant with God and the battle of Ezekiel 38 is what causes the covenant to be re-instated. (Ezek. 39:22) Armageddon comes at the end of Daniel’s 70th week, not the beginning.

As for Gog and Magog, the first thing to note is that while Magog is listed in Genesis 10, Gog is not. The list of 70 names in Genesis 10 is often called the Table of Nations because each of the men named there was the original ancestor of an ethnic group that grew to become a nation of people. For instance, Magog was the 2nd son of Japeth, one of Noah’s three sons, and bore the children who in time became known to the ancient world as the Scythians. They lived in central Asia and are believed to be the forefathers of today’s Russians. Many historical references support this view. For example, Josephus Flavius wrote “Magog founded the Magogians, thus named after him, but who were by the Greeks called Scythians.” And in some ancient Arabic documents, the Great Wall of China is called the Ramparts of Gog and Magog. It was built to keep the Scythians out of China.

So while the Russian people of today are likely descended from Magog, there is no such biological connection for Gog to either Magog or any other ethnic group. There is an unrelated mention of a man named Gog, a grandson of Reuben, in 1 Chronicles 5:4 but there doesn’t seem to be any connection between him and the land of Magog either. Clearly, while Magog refers to the millions of his descendants in today’s Russia, Gog remains a single individual.

Some say he’s a king or leader, and in a real sense I think that’s true but I don’t believe he’s of the human variety. The time spanned by his three appearances in scripture make that impossible.

The first one is in the first verse of Amos 7, but you have to be reading Amos from the Septuigent translation to see it. There, Gog is identified as a king, but of a swarm of locusts. To further shroud him in mystery Proverbs 30:27 states that locusts have no king, and observers of locust swarms agree that no obvious leader directs them, as a queen would direct a hive of bees for example. The swarm of locusts led by Gog in Amos 7:1-2 was symbolic of a judgment that was to come upon the Northern Kingdom, but the Lord relented because of Amos’ intercession.

(This hint also lends insight to another appearance of locusts, by the way. I’m referring to the one in Revelation 9, where a swarm of locusts comes out of the Abyss to afflict those on Earth who lack the seal of God on their foreheads. These locusts have a king named Abaddon in the Hebrew or Appolyon in the Greek. Here again, the Proverbs passage would indicate that these locusts are of supernatural origin like the ones in Amos 7, not ordinary locusts.)

The next time Gog’s mentioned is in Ezekiel 38:1, where he is called by name as the leader of a coalition of what are now primarily Moslem nations attacking Israel. His final mention comes from the Book of Revelation where he again leads the people from Magog against the Lord’s army at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:8).

Even if you’re among those who place the battle of Ezekiel 38 at the end of the Great Tribulation, the span of time between Gog’s last two biblical appearances is at least 1000 years, and while I believe that some born in that era will have long life spans, there isn’t any indication that natural humans born before the Millennium begins will live to see its end. This is especially true of God’s enemies, since all surviving unbelievers are removed from Earth at the beginning of our Lord’s reign.

So I’ve come to the conclusion that Gog is a supernatural figure. The Bible clearly states that behind the human seats of government stand supernatural figures manipulating the thoughts and actions of the world’s leaders. These figures are in Satan’s employ, helping in his effort to wrest ownership of Planet Earth from its Creator. Gog is at least the supernatural figure behind the throne of Russia, and perhaps is even Satan’s counterpart to the Archangel Michael, who commands the Lord’s armies.

In Daniel 10:13 Michael is identified as one of the Lord’s chief princes who in 536 BC came to Daniel’s aid in a supernatural struggle with the Prince of Persia, a nation barely emerging on the world scene having conquered Babylon just three years earlier. At its conclusion Michael told Daniel that he’d soon be battling the Prince of Greece, a nation that didn’t even exist at the time. In Daniel 12:1 we’re told he’ll protect Israel at the end of the age. And in Rev 12:7 he’s seen leading the angelic host in a great battle in heaven when Satan is defeated there and cast down to Earth at the outset of the Great Tribulation. Michael is clearly a supernatural warrior leaping across the pages of history in defense of the Lord’s interests. It makes sense that Satan would have a military commander leading his forces as well, since everything he does seems to mirror the actions of his Creator. With his multiple mentions in Scripture and the long span of time between appearances, Gog could easily be this commander.

Only time will tell if this view is correct. But one of the great advantages of living in our day is that we won’t have long to wait till we find out. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.

www.gracethrufaith.com

Some Community News - By Duncan Conner

Hey all,

Greetings in the name of Christ.  I wanted to write and let you all know that I will be taking some time off this week, which means that I will be taking a little time away from the web site as well.  I will still continue to post news articles every day, however I will not be posting any new articles until next week.

Just to let you know, I am working on 2 major things for the site right now.  One is the series of articles that I have been talking about for some time now on step by step, what some of the things you can be doing right now to be preparing for the days ahead.  I hope that you have already started.  If not, better late than never.  We are in a lull right now–an inflated period where the economy is flush with bailout money.  As you know it started to collapse at the beginning of the year, and then after all the stimulus worldwide, they flooded the globlal economy.  Imagine it like blowing up a baloon that has a pinhole in it.  We discovered at the beginning of the year that our baloon had a pretty serious pinhole.  The baloon was deflating and deflating fast.  So what did we do?  We took as deep a breath as we could and blew into the baloon.  We blew it up really big, then let go, and said, “Wew, not it is blown up again.”  But it still has a hole in it!!!  So not too long from now, we are going to start to see the effects of this thing again.  RIGHT NOW is the time to be preparing if you haven’t already prepared yet.  More on this later.

The other thing that I am working on is a letter that I am crafting to my family.  I sat down the other day and started writing a heartfelt letter to my family (who are mostly non believers).  I wanted to write to lay out a case for the collapse of America, what Obama is doing, and how all this possibly relates to Bible prophecy.  I had no idea I would now be on my 50th page with this letter.  I plan to publish this letter on the site as soon as I am done, just in case it may be of benefit to any of you.

I look forward to taking a little R&R time this week.  Keep looking up, take the extra time to look at some of the other many articles and preparation resources you may have missed. God bless you all and see you soon.

In Him,

Duncan Conner

Meeting America’s Challenges: With Faith, Hope and Common Sense – By Glenn Beck

Dear family and friends,

There is a line from the 1980’s movie, “The Abyss” going through my head lately.  The movie takes place deep under the ocean on an underwater oil rig.  The oil employees there have been joined by members of the military, because strange water-shaped aliens have appeared.  The military personnel are concerned that what they’ve seen may come from the Russians.  But one of the crew members aboard, tries to get the rest of the crew to view the miraculous form they’ve witnessed with, “better eyes than that.”

That’s what I’m hoping you will now do.  Look at what’s going on today, with “better eyes” than you’ve ever used before, because it is more important now than ever before.  We must view them without the eyes of democrats and republicans that most have unfortunately used for too long.  Then we must question, as Thomas Jefferson said, with boldness.  And accept the truth, no matter whether we disagree with it or its possibilities make us uncomfortable.

The last couple of days I’ve tried to outline some of the serious challenges we are facing.  Today, I want to talk about what you and I can do about it.  I know it may not seem like it at times, but I’ve actually been filled with hope and optimism recently.

As I have looked at the issues we face with “better eyes”, I honestly believe that I now understand what the problems are.  As anyone who, like me, has been through a twelve step program will tell you, admitting that you have a  problem is half the battle.  Now, we just have to DO something about it.  But that of course, leads to the inevitable question…what?

That’s an obvious question to ask.  Another good question to ask yourself might be, why are no solutions even being discussed in the public forum?  I feel there are a couple answers to that question.  The first one is…many people don’t know how to identify the problem.  Another one is fear.  Too many people are afraid to suggest any solutions because they might be ridiculed or dismissed as an extremist.  I’m way beyond the point of caring about any of that.

It’s taken an awful lot of research, piecing together the pieces of a giant puzzle, and quite honestly, prayer, to come to the conclusions I have.  I have truly agonized over what to do for our country for years now.  I’ve waited until now to put this down in writing because I didn’t want to provide any half-baked answers, but instead offer several different concrete courses of action from which you can choose.

You may also be wondering, ‘Glenn, what’s the big hurry all of a sudden, why does everything have to be done right now?’  Well, we are at a crossroads in our history right now.  Either Barack Obama continues with his pledge to “fundamentally transform the United States of America”, as he promised in Missouri five days before the election, or we travel down the path back toward the trail blazed by our Founding Fathers.  There can be no hesitation.  Hugo Chavez proceeded with his transformation of Venezuela at a slower, more cautious pace than Obama’s first six months.  In fact, on a live TV broadcast from Caracas on June 2nd of this year, Chavez quipped admiringly, “Hey, Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors. Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right.”  Now, I’m sure that was funny to Chavez and Castro, but it certainly wasn’t funny to me; and I hope and pray, not to you.  The clock is ticking on our opportunity to make a difference, but we still can!

First of all, over the next two days, I’ll be outlining the critical issues, over which, we MUST draw a line in the sand.  I’ve pondered these things carefully and truly believe we have to win these battles I will share with you this week, to save our Republic. But I will also ask for your input.  In the meantime, here are some vital first steps to take.

First, consult with trusted spiritual advisors for guidance. That could be a member of the clergy or a trusted, spiritual friend.  Also, to me, and to most of our Founding Fathers by the way, this includes seeking the guidance of the Lord in prayer.  I know, this is something that invites the ridicule of the mindless, godless spawns of hell (I say that with love, of course).  Again, I couldn’t care less.  If there was ever a time when we needed guidance from a Higher Power, it’s now.  To you, that higher power may come in the form of a spoon…whatever, go with it.  Unless the spoon is telling you to kill, cook and eat your neighbors, or in any way bring harm to others, then, obviously, that’s not a “higher power”, that’s A spoon.  But we must have inspiration on our side for this struggle.

Second, now that you’re (hopefully) freshly armed with inspiration, read the news and study issues from multiple sources, with “better eyes.”  You’ll see things clearer and be far less likely to be deceived.

Third, question everything.  Yes, even from me.  Mom used to tell me that I had a head on my shoulders for a reason…USE IT.  And with so much information available today from SO MANY sources, there is a ton of bogus nonsense circulating.  My credibility means everything to me right now, so before we put anything on the radio show, or Fox News, we check, double check, triple check and more, at times…and even WE, sometimes don’t get it right.  But one thing we NEVER start with is mass email.  Some of them are written so cleverly, and even cite news organization sources or mention that they’ve “checked” the information for accuracy. MOST of those stories aren’t true.  There is so much truth to use in defense of our great nation right now, it seriously damages our cause when we fall prey to these Internet hoaxes.  In other words, whether it’s a story on Fox News or something from your best friend, trust, but verify.

And the fourth thing I’d like to get across today is, remember your traditions and heritage.  One of the most shocking things said during the course of the presidential campaign last year came from Michelle Obama.  During a campaign stop, she said, “and Barack knows that we are going to have to make sacrifices, we’re going to have to change our conversation, we’re going to have to change our traditions, our history, we’re going to have to move into a different place.”  First of all, one can’t change one’s history.  Oh, you can re-write it, certainly, to make it a lie, but that doesn’t change it.  Secondly, I don’t want to change our traditions and history!  It is our traditions and history that make us who we are…we are AMERICANS!  And we will fight to stay AMERICANS!

I will have more details, tomorrow.

Stay strong,

Glenn

www.glennbeck.com

How to Learn from History – By Glenn Beck

Dear family and friends,

Yesterday I shared my thoughts on the challenges and threats facing America as I see them.  What I’m going to share today are some examples from history of countries, including our own, which faced similar challenges (to greater or lesser degrees) and how those countries faired while confronting those challenges.

I wanted to look at history because too many people call into the radio show or send an email after watching the television show and tell me “not too worry” about America because we’ve faced worse hardships before and have not only overcome them but have emerged stronger.

I understand the American spirit.  I understand that we are the country that took on the Nazis, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan and won.  I understand that we stood toe-to-toe with the Soviet Union over 40 years and defeated them in the Cold War.  I know that we are a country of fighters and that Americans are capable of conquering any challenge—but the belief that great things happen to America just because we’re America—that’s just plain wrong.

Thrift, hard-work, sacrifice by our parents, grandparents and their mothers and fathers went hand-in-hand with the thrift, hard-work and sacrifice we collectively made as a country—that’s what produced unparalleled strength and success.  Today, we face difficult times.  We stand at cross-roads as a country.  Where we eventually end up will be determined by the decisions each of us makes today and in the weeks and months ahead.

Great countries don’t collapse, they transform.  The Soviet Union in 1991 didn’t disappear after its political and economic model collapsed, it transformed and is still transforming.  Weimar Germany’s government collapsed as did its economy but Germany continued—at first down the national socialist path—and now as a democracy.

The Soviet Union

For almost 70 years, the Soviet Union was considered one of two world super-powers.  At its military peak the Soviet Army enlisted over 5 million men and women and amassed over 30,000 nuclear weapons.  With a push of a button it could literally have set into motion a series of events that could have ended life around the globe.

It’s amazing to consider that the political and economic foundations of such a country could collapse, literally overnight, following a meeting in the woods of a handful of political leaders.  So what brought down the Soviet Union?  It’s budget deficit and foreign debt soared during the 1990s following the price decline of it’s most lucrative export, oil.  In the early 1980s oil was about $35 a barrel and by the late 1990s was struggling to stay at $13 a barrel.  Inflation was running 20%-25%  a month as food and other consumer goods began to disappear from store shelves.  The ruble’s international strength declined.  Although the official commercial exchange rate was 6 rubles to the dollar, tourists and foreigners could easily obtain a 30 rubles for a dollar.

Despite their economic challenges, soaring inflation and worthless rubles the Soviet people wanted to remain Soviets.  They believed in and loved their country.   Polls and referendums regularly showed that 76% of the people wanted to remain united as a Soviet Union with some changes taking place, but not a wholesale collapse of their political and economic structure.  But despite these feelings, the vast majority of Soviets did nothing as a relatively small but dedicated group of political extremists pushed their agenda forward. 

The great revolution that ultimately transformed the Soviet Union really began in a lodge in the woods just outside of Brest (Belarus) with a handful of radicals determined to change their government.  Those same radicals permitted only ONE HOUR of debate before calling on a vote to dissolve the Soviet Union and replace it with the short lived Commonwealth of Independent States.

The Soviet Union was transformed into Russia.  Initial hopes that Russia would be an ally on global military and economic issues was lost by the arrogance of our political leaders who insisted on putting NATO’s tanks and soldiers closer and closer to their borders even after we promised that would never happen.  We saw Russia as weak and broken and sought to dictate how they should live their lives.  Joe Biden typifies that arrogance.  He recently said, “I think we vastly underestimate the hand that we hold…Russia has to make some very difficult, calculated decisions, they have a shrinking population base, they have a withering economy, they have a banking sector and structure that is not likely to be able to withstand the next 15 years, they’re in a situation where the world is changing before them and they’re clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable.“  Couldn’t they say the same thing about us?  Isn’t our situation similar to that of the Soviet Union prior to their transformation—certainly not as grave—but similar.  One of our pillars of economic growth—manufacturing represents a mere 12% of our GDP.  America is no longer an export powerhouse and we regularly import tens-of-billions of dollars a month more than we export.  Our dollar is weaker, not only on the official exchange rates—which are always in flux.  But weaker as a symbol of our strength.  Russia, Brazil, India and China are now regularly calling for the dollar to be replaced or at least have a reduced role as the world’s currency.  Our money supply stands at a staggering $8.3 trillion.

Where We Are Today

Russia is now an oligarchy.  It has abandoned communism and socialism as failed doctrines.  Now, a small group of political and business elite run the country while getting rich.  Those who speak out against their shared interests risk joining the ranks of journalists killed there since 1992 in contract-style killings.  Those businesses that don’t play along find themselves losing lucrative government contracts or have their executives jailed (Yukos founder Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky) or forced to flee (BP CEO Robert Dudley) or publicly attacked and vilified (Igor Zyuzin of Mechel). 

I don’t believe that this is our destiny as a country.  Once the transformation process begins a lot of factors influence the outcome.  I do not believe that the Germans in Weimar Germany knew in advance that the ultimate result of their inflationary policies would create 40% unemployment where a smooth talking and hate-filled Adolph Hitler would find a very receptive audience.

When the Soviet Union was being transformed the vast majority of people there did nothing while it happened. When Hitler wrote Mein Kampf and talked about killing the Jews, the people did nothing.

I am not saying that our political leaders want to take us down these roads.  I don’t believe they do.  But they have been open to their desire to transform and re-make America.  The question we have to answer is will we, like the Soviets and Germans, sit and do nothing while our country is being transformed?  Will we too let a relatively small group of radicals transform and re-make America?  Or will we take a stand and become a watchdog of liberty, freedom and the Constitution?

Tomorrow I am going to tell you about some questions that you need to ask yourself before becoming a ‘watchdog.’  You need to take a measure of why you are and where you stand.

With love,

Glenn

www.glennbeck.com

Where America Stands Today - By Glenn Beck

Dear family and friends,
 
I don’t like being the bearer of bad news.  It’s difficult for me emotionally and mentally to continually bring the message that ‘bad times are coming’ and I know you’re growing tired of continually hearing the message of ‘prepare, prepare, prepare.’  There are times when I wish I could see the ‘green shoots’ that Ben Bernanke says are sprouting up or agree that the Obama Administration has “rescued the economy from the worst recession ever.”
 
But I have to tell you how I see the world.  I’m not an economist or banker and I could be wrong, but I don’t see ‘green shoots’ or long-term stability for America right now.  On September 18, 2007 when the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 13,403 and unemployment was at 4.6% and the ‘experts’ were telling you good times were ahead I had to tell you that, “We are absolutely heading in for a recession.  It is unstoppable…”
 
I wish I could tell you I see better times ahead but I don’t.  Here’s a summary of where we are today.
 

On the Domestic Front
Now, the DJIA stand at 9093, the official unemployment rate has hit 9.5% with non-government economists suggesting that the real unemployment rate is closer to 20% with over half-a-million Americans filing initial jobless claims a week.  Unbelievably, the same ‘experts’ that missed the near-collapse of the global financial system are telling us about ‘green shoots’ and more good economic times ahead while are banks remain basically insolvent despite having received hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money and continue to fail without the infusion of taxpayer cash.
 
The 6.7 trillion dollar commercial real estate market faces hard-times with Wells Fargo reporting a 69% jump in non-performing commercial loans between the first and second quarters of this year.  Commercial real estate prices are down 35% from their 2007 peak.  Even that great optimist Ben Bernanke was forced to concede that the market for securities backed by commercial mortgages remains “completely shut down.”  On the residential front a massive wave of optional adjustable mortgages are coming and the vast majority of these option ARMs are set to re-finance in 2010 and 2011.
 
The eighth largest economy in the world—which would be the state of California—has been paying its bills with worthless pieces of paper (no, not the US Dollar, but IOUs) that are so worthless that even our insolvent banks won’t accept them.  And while the good people of California continued to work hard the politicians there spent their time debating whether or not cow tails should be removed from cows.  The politicians worked out a grand solution to their money problems that include letting the sea otters keep their trust fund, sending 26000 prisoners home 20 months early and authorizes the California state government to “forcibly borrow” money from the county and city governments.
 
It gets better.  The California public pension system director has now come out and said (apparently with a straight face) that he wants to make riskier investments in order to make up for the 23% loss it recently sustained.  So, if I understand his thinking, the more you lose on risky investments the more money you should invest in even riskier investments—he’s got to get together with Joe “we have to spend money to keep from going bankrupt” Biden—that would be fantastic!
 
And while California is on the financial ropes the federal government is doing what it does best: taking advantage of their situation by telling state officials that if they close state parks due to budget problems it will seize the land, auction it off or re-sell it to the state.  This land grab isn’t an isolated incident.  Sarah Palin recently warned the American people to “be wary of accepting government largess. It doesn’t come free.”
 
ACORN and the SEIU are part of this land grab.  It’s not just a grab for physical land—but for our freedoms and liberties.  These organizations are engaged in a pattern of intimidation and suppression of your rights.
 
At the national level our political leadership has put their faith in money and not the people.  Both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, at their core, think the American people aren’t ready to make the hard sacrifices so they printed money—lots of it.  The TARP Inspector General has valued the total TARP monetary bailout commitments at 23 TRILLION dollars.
 
On the International Front
While President Obama is trying to create an atmosphere in order to have an open dialogue with our enemies, Iran continues to make progress building a nuclear bomb with some diplomats saying they could test one within six months which would set-off a nuclear arms race across the Middle East.
 
And while Obama is eager to have a dialogue with those who would do us harm his administration is ignoring our allies.  Even the leaders of one of our closest allies, Israel, have been forced to discuss and plan what to do if Obama halts or reduces US military aid to their country.
 
Further east, China has gone from giving vague and cloaked answers about their support for our bonds to having their highest officials publicly call for a new reserve currency to replace the US dollar as the financial global backbone and our economic and military competitors Russia, Brazil and India were quick to endorse the idea.
 
Closer to home Venezuela is continuing their military build-up by doubling the number of existing tank battalions and following through on its purchase from Russia of 100,000 combat rifles, 24 top-of-the-line fighter-bombers, and 50 helicopters and is using this power to assist Iran and Hezbollah operations in South America.  Meanwhile, Mexico continues to struggle against narco-terrorist organizations that seem to have the Mexican military out-manned and out-gunned as they struggle to end their reign of drugs and terror.
 
The Obama Administration’s response to these events is to continue the Bush Administration approach of “ignore them and maybe they’ll go away.”  Adding insult to national security is that while our government has found $1,900,000 for the Pleasure Beach water taxi service project and another $4.2 billion for 341 other pork projects there’s apparently no money for border security and that’s why our politicians have actually requested VOLUNTEERS from the National Guard to serve on the border.
 
Our Politicians Continue to Play Politics While the Country Teeters
So while our economic, domestic and international problems mount what are our politicians doing?  Right here in New York City our billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, worked on passing a law to prevent YOU from idling YOUR car while his SUV idles 40 MINUTES at a time throughout the day.
 
Mayor Bloomberg joins a growing list of hypocrites and elitists who firmly believe they are entitled to live one way while forcing you and your family to live by another more restrictive set of rules.  Michelle Obama preaches thrift and cutting-back while wearing $500 sneakers at a food-bank and quipped that $600 wasn’t really a lot of money and could easily be spent on a pair of earrings; Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are working overtime trying to force government health care down our collective throats while absolutely refusing to commit to adopt that same health care plan for themselves and their families; and Al Gore and the green movement ilk continue to make billions by forcing us to change our light bulbs and compel us to bring toxic mercury into our homes. And Charlie Rangel pushes for higher taxes while refusing to pay what he owes.  Our youth are ‘educated’ through the propaganda of Americorps and ‘tolerance camps’ that this type of elitist behavior is good and that its okay for ‘them’ to live by a different set of rules than the ‘small people’ have to follow.
 
Not only are we losing our freedoms we seem to be in a race to do it.  The TARP bill under Bush was a “must have rush bill”, the stimulus bill under Obama was a “rush”, the cap-and-trade bill “had to get passed” quickly and the health care bill originally had to be passed out of both chambers of congress before the end of August.  Why?  It took the Obama family three months to select the family dog—but the restructuring and rebuilding of America has to take place over one summer?
 
In short, politicians continue to play politics.  We have a health care bill that would socialize 15-20% of our economy and add another trillion dollars to our national debt—and what are our politicians focused on?  The Republicans are looking to defeat the bill—not based on conservative principles—but to make this Obama’s Waterloo.  And Obama’s pushing to pass the bill—not based on a debate involving the benefits of his proposal—but because failure to pass it would “destroy my presidency.”
 

Conclusion
Our politicians continue to give us a weak anti-biotic when major surgery is required.  The anti-biotic will temporarily mask our symptoms but will not address our underlying pathology and condition.  In the end the meager dose of medicine we receive will actually make us worse by making our system immune and luring us into a false sense of security when we need to have all our senses heightened to the dangers and threats lurking around us.
 
Today, I wanted to show you where our country really is.  We live in perilous times and we ourselves are in a perilous condition.  We will have a period of stability where it looks like things are going well and it looks like we’ll have turned the corner on our problems.  Remember, until fundamental changes are made any period of stability will be temporary.  Tomorrow, I want to write a bit about how other countries, faced with similar challenges and problems dealt with those circumstances and whether they were successful in meeting those challenges.
 
 We will meet those challenges but it will take commitment and a lot of work from us. 
 
Stay strong,
 

Glenn

www.glennbeck.com

Modern Survivalism Tenet Number One: Preparations - By Jack Spirko

Everything You Do Should Improve Your Position in Life Even If Nothing Goes Wrong

The survivalist community is often perceived as a bunch of gloom and doom types sitting on a pile of MREs, ammunition and guns in some far out corner of the North West. Of course the survivalist is also typecast as expecting TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it) to occur any day now, in fact he is actually hoping for it. Honestly it is time for this stereotype to die a deserving death. Modern survivalists are many things but very few are actually concerned about the infamous black helicopters or FEMA Camps. Most instead are simply realists who understand that sometimes things do go wrong and it is better to be prepared than to expect someone else to solve your problems.

The real key to modern survivalism is the Modern Survival Philosophy which is a group ten key principles that guide the actions of many survivalists. While all are important it is tenet number one that really sets the stage for separating the doomsday stereotype from the reality. Survivalists are generally thought of as people who prepare to deal with disasters, shortages and anything that disrupts society. Modern survivalists do this but they do so in a way that improves their lives even if nothing major ever goes wrong.

For example many survival minded individuals grow gardens and develop more permanent food producing crops like fruit trees, berry bushes etc. on their property. They generally stick to organic production methods, focus on water harvesting and attempt to maximize production per square meter. This is a classic survival technique designed to remain sustainable if anything hits from simple loss of personal income all the way up to a collapse of US infrastructure. So yes in the event of economic collapse this makes a tremendous amount of sense as a modern survival tactic.

Now let’s examine the other side of the issue. What if we never have an economic collapse, what if there are no food shortages in the next 30 years and what if the survivalist never even has a layoff to contend with? Flat out for the foreseeable future absolutely nothing goes wrong. If you have your property landscaped with sustainable organic food producing crops are you not still better off?

Consider that by setting up sustainable and productive organic agriculture that your property value will be increased if for no other reason than environmentalism is a huge movement right now. You will spend less money over the years on buying food which can be saved, invested, used to reduce debt, etc. Further your health will be improved by eating high quality fresh produce not to mention the exercise you get. Of course the list of benefits from having a solid sustainable editable landscape on your property is exhaustive and could go on a lot further but hopefully this begins to make the point.

Let’s examine more briefly a few more common things that survival minded individuals do and consider what benefit they have to us even if nothing ever goes wrong.

One key to modern survivalism is debt elimination. In the event of a disaster from personal up to global those in less debt are better suited to handle what comes their way. Yet even without any type of disaster having low to no debt will result in a much more sustainable and rewarding lifestyle.

Having firearms and the training to use them is useful in anything from a garden variety home invasion to a true societal breakdown and it can be the difference between life and death. Yet if nothing goes wrong the armed citizen is still more confident and makes decisions based on reality vs. fear.

Storing extra food is “Survivalism 101″ and there are many things that can go wrong from a personal up to a global level where such stored food is potentially life saving. Yet by following the mantra of “store what you eat and eat what you store” modern survivalists actually spend less money via a classic method known as “capital deferral”. This is accomplished by purchasing what will be used anyway at today’s prices to beat inflation, much the way Southwest Airlines does by purchasing fuel contracts while prices are lower.

This concept simply continues though just about every facet of survivalism. If you put in solar panels and/or wind generators and you are ready to handle a black out no mater what the cause or how long it lasts. Yet even if nothing goes wrong and you pay less for you electric bill and increase your property value.

Learn to “live off the land” with hunting, fishing and foraging and you will be more likely to survive a disaster but if nothing goes wrong you are enjoying the outdoors, getting exercise, saving money and eating better quality food all at the same time.

This formula is practically bullet proof as long as you keep the first tenet in mind as you make lifestyle and purchasing decisions, again that tenet is,

“Everything You Do Should Improve Your Position in Life Even If Nothing Goes Wrong”

This keeps you from using survivalism as a convenient excuse to blow money and go into debt, which would violate one of the other tenets anyway. For instance fishing is a great way to add another low cost protein source to the household if done with practical and modestly priced equipment. Yet if you go out and purchase a 25,000 dollar bass boat and fancy equipment you will never get an ROI on your production. Now if you want a nice boat, this is America, there is nothing wrong with that but if you want to be a survivalist, save your money and buy what is adequate with cash. One is version is an expensive hobby, the other is a way to improve your lifestyle.

It is really a simple core guiding principle, each time you are making a decision about where to spend time, money or resources you simply ask the question, “Will this action improve my ability to live a sustainable lifestyle if we have a disaster or even if we don’t”. When the answer is yes you make it part of your survival planning. If the answer is no, that doesn’t mean you don’t do it, it simply means it is a luxury not an investment in an asset that provides for your future and hence you prioritize it accordingly.

There is a fundamental reality that most Americans are living beyond their means in an unsustainable way. They are one or two paychecks from poverty, consuming food that is unhealthy, working far to hard for far to little and above all many are miserable. Yes miserable! They work at a job they hate, drive on a commute they hate even more and give up the best parts of their lives simply to earn enough money to pay the interest on their debts. They then retire with a social security check that keeps them just to the south side of the poverty line and by the time most 30-40 somethings retire they won’t even get that.

The modern survivalist simply realizes that is not good enough, that life is precious and as humans we have a fundamental liberty that many choose to sell for far to low of a price. The good news is you have a choice, you can choose to walk though life with a credit card at the ready or you can choose to live a life that can be sustained in both good times and bad. It all starts with asking the simple question, “will this choice improve my long term sustainability”, on a daily basis. Simply asking that question will put you on the path to becoming a modern survivalist.

http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com

Mental Preparation

Here is a list of current threats that are facing the United States of America along with some information to help you in your preparation. 

Note: Below are the resources that were a part of the previous Omega Report web Site.  All links will take you to pages from the old site.  Although the formatting is off, you will still be able to see and read the information.

Al Qaeda/Islamic Terrorism: Their goal is to bankrupt and ultimately destroy the United States.
 
Balkanization: Growing divisions in the United States could fracture American society.
 
Biological/Chemical Attack: A few anthrax-laced letters terrorized America. What next?
 
China: Friend or foe? Time will tell!
 
Civil Disorder: New Orleans is a wakeup call!
 
Dirty Bomb: Relatively easy to make, far more likely than a nuclear explosion.
 
Earthquakes: One of the most frightening and destructive phenomena of nature.
 
Economic Collapse: Months or years of disorder could occur after an economic collapse.
 
EMP: An EMP event could shut down EVERYTHING!
 
Fires: More than 4,000 Americans die each year from fires.
 
Floods: One of the most common hazards in the United States.
 
Gasoline Shortages: The U.S. economy would shut down without gasoline.
 
Hijackings: 9/11 added a new dimension to the threat.
 
Hurricanes: All Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastal areas are at risk.
 
Illegal Immigration: Millions of illegal aliens in the U.S. owe allegiance to other countries.
 
Narco-Terrorism: Drug lords are bringing violence to America.
 
Nuclear Attack: Some believe a nuclear attack is an eventual certainty.
 
Pandemic: Growing populations and a ’shrinking world’ increase risk of pandemic.
 
Terrorism: Technology is empowering individuals and small groups to have great negative impact.
 
Tornadoes: Tornadoes produce the most violent winds on earth - up to 300 miles per hour!
 
Volcanoes: The most common cause of death from a volcano is suffocation.