Glenn Beck...

No Longer A Voice Crying In The Wilderness....





Earlier in the year, I said that Saturday August 28, 2010 would be an important date.





And it was.





Glenn Beck spoke to his followers - some 500,000 middle Americans - at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Never before in US history have so many middle of the road Americans come out in such fashion. All worried that their once great country is quickly going off track and thanks in large part to Glenn Beck they finally have a voice.





To many, Glenn Beck is still an unknown. Let me first tell you a little bit about who he is not:

• He is not a religious fanatic



• He is not a bigot



• He is not a Democrat nor even a Republican



• He is not a politician nor will he ever become a politician

Who is he then?

He is a concerned citizen worried to death about where his once great country is headed. (Many of us in Canada share his concerns for our own country).

Beck also has his own program on Fox News every night at 5 pm est and through the vehicle of television has developed a huge following among Middle Class America. Dare I say, he has become the most popular person in all of the US. At the same time, he has become his country's most unpopular person. Revered on the Right; hated by the Left.

As noted in earlier Blogs, the United States is split 50 / 50. The Leftist Elites and their unquestioning followers on one side and ordinary Americans - the ones who work 9 to 5, raise their families, pay their taxes and go to church on the other side.

In Canada, I believe the same breakdown to be closer to 66 /33 given our more Socialist bent.

Okay - Why all the doom and gloom Galagher? We have it pretty good here in Canada and in the United States -do we not? Food on the table, decent jobs, good roofs over our heads, kids well educated and so on. Why the Scare Tactics?

I concede that we do in fact have life pretty good and indeed it is my fervent wish that it remains so.

But - here it comes - the BIG BUT - my big concern is that everything of importance which we have known since the end of the Second World War is turning itself upside down and inside out. What was Black is now White. What was Right is now Wrong and so on. The question for me becomes can we hold on to what we have gained over the last 200 years and more or are we doomed to lose it like the Romans did in their time.

Let's look as some of these important changes:

• Nuclear Proliferation is probably the most important change since its inception in 1945. Nut Bars like China, Russia, Pakistan, North Korea and too soon - Iran- have the Bomb. It is only a matter of time before one of the lesser lights in that sterling line-up push the button to eventual oblivion.

• Related to the first, will be Al Qaeda getting its hands on enough radio active material to launch a hand-held nuclear device. You can bet that New York City and London will be their Targets of Choice.

• Governments, at all levels, are getting larger - much larger. They are intruding into most aspects of our lives to the point where we are losing our independence. I like to say, it started with Mandatory Seat Belt Wearing. Whatever, the Cradle to Grave Philosophy now so apparent in the West, has seriously diminished our independence and has impaired our ability to challenge the Ruling Elites.



• Taxes are ever increasing to pay for this grossly expanded Government and its various follies (e.g. the Green Movement). The ordinary person has come to his or her wits end with taxes, fees, taxes on taxes and related charges and sur charges. This has only served to indebt the individual to Government even more and in so doing has emasculated the population in general.



• Terrorism of all kinds is running rampant throughout the world; Genocide is being carried out with impunity in Africa; Drug Lords Rule; Human Traffickers and Smugglers are coddled; Petty Little Dictators prey on their own People while We in the West stand helplessly by. We have lost the Will to do what is needed to put a stop to these Tyrannies.



• Freedom has indeed become another word. In Truth, it has become Lost. Security Measures following 9/11 have only been successful in treating all of our citizenry as criminals. Kangaroo Human Rights Courts stomp on the very Human Rights they are there to protect. We are constantly being poked and probed. Legislation, Regulations, Rules and Policy have piled up so fast that it is difficult for us to Breath. Courts have assumed the Role of our Guardians and have used the Charter of Rights to replace Government. Government by the Majority has been replaced with Government by the Minority.



• Government Debt has gone off the Charts. In reality, the US is flat broke. Some Wag is quoted as saying that even Canada - should only be described as the Healthiest Horse in the Glue Factory. Harper and Co. have also run up greater deficits than at any time in our history. His program spending in the few years he has been in power has doubled. What Pray Tell are we to do when our money is worthless? Gold is not going to record levels for nought and don't think for a moment that Gold is the answer - when Gold replaces Paper Currency and it most likely will, there will be Hell on our Streets.



• Our Media is mostly controlled by the Left - at least America has Fox News. It used to be that CBC took any flack there was from the right but now, from my perspective, CTV is just as bad or even worse. In sum, our population is being brainwashed daily by our major outlets. (Oh to have the Toronto Telegram and the Ottawa Journal back). So our Governments and our Courts no longer work for us the People and our Media no longer provides a desperately necessary arms length, objective perspective.



• To top it off, we have become a Social Welfare State - bought by our own money. Stats indicate that one in six Americans receive government assistance, unemployed receive benefits for up to 2 years. I am not sure of the numbers on government assistance here in Canada but I suspect, given our Socialist Nature - they would be even higher. And this only serves to promote lethargy and takes needed money away from an economy in desperate need of it to create more jobs and more wealth.
• And then we have migration. Stats from the United Nations state that upwards of 50 million persons are on the move around the world to find a better country in which to live. Canada, per capita, accepts the more refugees by far than any other Western Nation. Average numbers total some 40 to 50 thousand per year. This is in addition to the 200,000+ that come to Canada via the normal immigration channels. These immigrants and refugees for the most part come from the third world and tend to congregate in our major cities. They are causing a net drain on our country's GDP. I fully understand the moral issue that is attached to immigration but it is also important that Canadians understand the economic issues as well. Simply stated, if these numbers continue, our standard of living will be negatively affected. The answer is to revamp our Immigration System to ensure that those coming to Canada are a net economic benefit and through this, we will be able to provide more help to those in need throughout the world.

To me though the scariest part of our moral and economic decline is in regard to the Rest of the World. For Centuries Great Britain maintained world order, since WW I, America has performed this role. We all have benefited from this. Now though we are experiencing a transition. America's days of being number one are ending. As noted above, America is broke, and ever increasingly lacks the will to do what is necessary to retain the mantle of World Policeman. Soon it will be replaced by the powers in South East Asia - notably China and to a lesser extent India.

Glenn Beck offers us the chance to delay that Transition.

As I see it...

"Galagher"

Solzhenitsyn...A Most Unappreciative Guest

First, I apologize to you in advance for another rather 'heavy duty' Blog.







This may surprise you; I do try to avoid 'heavy' but there seems to be no escape from it - the world as we used to know it back in the 'good olde 60s' has completely turned on its head. What was right then is wrong now.








What got me started on today's rant is an article I came across recently about the late Russian Writer & Philosopher Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn, as you will recall, exposed to the world the Russian forced labour camps through his two most famous writings - The Gulag Archipelago and One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich.






At the end of WW II he was imprisoned in these forced labour camps for being critical of the way in which Stalin conducted the war. He was not released until 1956 - some 10 years later.





As such, I believe it is safe to say that he was an expert on Totalitarianism.



To make a long story short - at least this portion of the story, he visited the USA for an extended period of time in the late 1970s and in 1978 was the recipient of an honourary degree from Harvard.





In his commencement address that day, his topic was 'A World Split Apart' and students and faculty alike sat back prepared to listen to him castigate the Soviet Union. To their amazement the subject of his scorn was the very United States which had welcomed him to its bosom.





Here are some of his comments from that day long ago:

• The Western World has lost its courage and its Leadership is mediocre;





• The West is guilty of blind arrogance, of material abundance coupled with spiritual poverty;





• That Security, brought about by Western Capitalist Welfare States, is both addictive and enervating;





• He pointed out the Mendacity of our Media and the Decadence of our Art.

In sum, he bemoaned the fact that the gift of freedom had been abused and debased in the West.

Those present had not expected this from their guest - indeed, they had thought he would be thankful for being granted time in their great country. They were sadly mistaken.

Looking back from our vantage point today it is not surprising that Solzhenitsyn spoke out the way he did. Here was a man who had looked into the Jaws of Hell for 10 long years and accordingly, was not about to sugar coat his beliefs for the sensitivities of his Host Country.

The only question I am left with is just what he would think of the state of things today - some 30 years later?

Although Solzhenitsyn is no longer with us I did come across two columnist of late who I believe may just be able to speak on his behalf albeit without the Great One's forcefulness.

David Warren in his Article 'Before the Deluge', speaks about an "impending catastrophe in almost every direction". In the "World at Large" he notes, "tyranny is almost everywhere advancing ...while our ability to rise to each potential crisis is diminishing".

His article then goes on to examine the terrible financial state that our Free World Leader - America finds itself. These Debts and Deficits have not only resulted in Big Government, but more importantly, he notes, has resulted in its Citizens having become mere vassals of the State - so dependent on its Welfare that they have lost the ability to Act and Think Independently.

The Second Article I would like to Reference is by Ken Gray entitled 'The New Abnormal'.

Gray continues on the same Theme. "If people ever begin worrying about the $13 Trillion public debt, it might not hurt to start patrolling the edges of your property with a rifle".

He continues with a review of the terrible financial stats.

• US Debt is 89% of GDP



• it has been increasing annually by $500 billion since 2003



• in 2009 alone it increased by $1.9 Trillion

Sooner of later he notes that both government and individuals will have to get their "debt under control" but this will mean an end to artificial stimulus. And this coupled with the Boomer Retirement will mean that economic activity will tank for many years to come.

So what does all this mean for you and I?

The US will no longer be able to fulfill its role as World Leader. That Role will pass by default to China.

The West has been unable to contain Terrorism to now - under the New World Order it will be less and less able to even try.

There is an answer though and it lies deep inside each of us. A return to basic values of truth, honour and integrity. We have seen an example of this - this past weekend where Glenn Beck brought half a million ordinary Americans to the Lincoln Memorial to pray for the courage to do just that. It is a start - indeed a bid start and I will be writing more on this in later Blogs.

Suffice to say, Beck has been universally put down by the liberal left but then again, Christ was the subject of scorn some 2,000 years ago. I am not for a minute equating Beck with Christ - I am only pointing out that to be scorned by the Leftist Elites

Death of the Long Gun Registry....

It looks as though a final vote will taken within weeks on the Tory Private Member's Bill designed to kill the Long Gun Registry and put it out of its misery.

This issue comes down to the Rural / Urban Divide. Rural Canadians want it - Urban Canadians do not. As a resident of Ottawa - albeit Rural Ottawa, I fall into the former camp. I also own firearms.

Firearms for Rural Canadians are simply tools - like pitch forks and tractors. Even here on the outskirts of Ottawa we co-exist with coyotes, wolves, fox, fishers and the odd bear. It is nice to have a weapon to help dispatch them if they get too bothersome. A couple of years ago a deer got caught up in one of our fences and badly broke its leg to the point that it could no longer walk. At the time I owned just a 22 cal rifle and I was not sure it would do the job of humanely putting the animal out of its misery. I called a local hunter who was fortunately home and did the deed. We had also called the humane society, the vet, the police and the conservation officers first - but none were willing to get involved.

So to me there is a need.

But more important, there is not a need for the Registry itself. It is just a monumental waster of taxpayers' money.

Gun owners are already Registered. In order to purchase long rifles and ammunition - you must first have an Acquisition Permit and as such - you are registered. So when the Police Chiefs say they need to know if firearms are present before they enter a residence - this information is and has been available to them for some time. The registration of firearms is, in other words, a redundant activity.

It is also a very emotional topic. Born out of the Polytech Massacre in 1989 - it was a knee jerk - feel good initiative designed simply to placate the residents (voters) of Montreal. In so doing it rang up over $2 billion in costs. Police Chiefs say today that the costs are a mere $4 million a year to run the program and if you believe that I have a swamp....

The average cop knows the folly of the Program and if truth be told - so do their Chiefs. But may I suggest that their Leadership's position is less about safety and more about bulking up their resources from the public purse (i.e. in much the same way as their war on drugs which they have been losing from day one).

At this point it looks like enough NDPers will support the Tories in 3rd and final reading and hopefully this boondoggle will be behind us all.

As I see it..

'Galagher'