Dr. Jack Wheeler
MYSTERY LAKES OF THE GOBI
The southernmost portion of the Gobi Desert is called the Alashan in Inner Mongolia. Traversed by Marco Polo in 1273 on his way to meet the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan, he said it contained a “mystery.”
For in the hidden center of the Alashan is an area known as Badain Jaran, “Mystery Lakes” in Mongolian. There are some 140 of these small lakes surrounded by enormous sand dunes. The photo you see is of one of these lakes, taken in late afternoon on a windless day, with the giant dunes above reflected on the water.
We were there in October 2017. Traversing the dunes to explore these lakes is a mesmerizing experience. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #32 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
IMPRESSIONISM’S ISLAND
Bangaram Atoll, Laccadive Islands, India. The “Lacquered” islands or Laccadives are legendary for the glossiness of the Indian Ocean surrounding them. There are three dozen of these coral atolls over 150 miles off the coast of southwest India – but moorkh Indian bureaucrats insist on calling them “Lakshadweep,” Sanskrit for “100,000. Go figure.
Paintings of the French Impressionists of the 19th century merged dreams and reality. Here that is for real. The beauty in the Laccadives can be so astonishing that it seems surreal – like when the ocean and sky merge into one in a palette of pastels straight from the brush of Monet. Come to Bangaram and you’ll find yourself living inside a painting. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #172 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE HANI RICE TERRACES
The Hani people in the mountains of Yunnan have been carving out rice terraces on dozens of steep mountainsides for over a dozen centuries. After the late fall harvest, in winter they flood the terraces in preparation for spring planting. At sunrise and sunset, the light reflecting off them creates a scene of phantasmagorical surrealism. Unknowingly, the Hani have created one of humanity’s most magnificent works of natural art the world has ever seen. What you see here is only one of hundreds of terraced areas. It is a sight beyond belief. Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #156 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE GRAND PRISMATIC SPRING OF YELLOWSTONE
There are places in our world so staggeringly beautiful to have to see them to believe they exist. Yet those people walking along the foot bridge can’t see what you’re looking at. That has to be in the air, hovering from high above in a helicopter. We live in a world of such beauty it really does take your breath away. And best of all, the beauty of the Grand Prismatic Spring of Yellowstone is right here in America.
On Monday (6/07), we got a Glimpse of Horseshoe Bend in northern Arizona and reflected on how much more there was to experience in just that region of the American West. And that’s just one region, one part of one of the most spectacular places in all Creation.
Here we are at Yellowstone in Wyoming, a wonderland by itself. Just to the south are the Grand Tetons. To the west is the Sawtooth Range and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River – one of the best whitewater runs on the planet. It goes endlessly on and on. America the Beautiful is not just a song – it’s glorious reality. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World 135, photo ©Jack Wheeler
WHY LIBERALS ARE FASCISTS
[This Monday’s Archive was originally published on August 31, 2006. Although the names have changed, the words here 18 years are more relevant than ever to America today.]
TTP, August 31, 2006
Doesn't it seem odd that the kids who started the 60s anti-establishment protest riots on college campuses with the Free Speech Movement (Berkeley, 1964) are the college professors or politicians today who most vehemently suppress free speech among their students or constituents in the name of political correctness?
How can this be? How can worshipping at the shrines of Diversity, Tolerance, and Multiculturalism result in trials and expulsions for students, or jail for citizens, who express ideas with which the worshippers are not in agreement?
The answer is the intimate connection between Subjectivism and Fascism. As Mussolini made clear. In his 1921 essay Diuturna (The Lasting, that which endures), Mussolini made it clear that moral relativism was his rationale for Fascism:
“If relativism signifies contempt for fixed categories and those who claim to be the bearers of objective immortal truth, then there is nothing more relativistic than Fascist attitudes and activity. From the fact that all ideologies are of equal value, we Fascists conclude that we have the right to create our own ideology and to enforce it with all the energy of which we are capable.”Liberals follow Mussolini's conclusion to the letter. Preaching tolerance, they have no tolerance for anyone's opinions but their own. Anyone they disagree with they call ‘racist' or ‘sexist' or ‘homophobic' or some other denigration.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY – AT THE NORTH POLE WITH MY 10 YEAR-OLD SON
April, 2003. On my 21st expedition to 90 North, the geographic North Pole, I took my son Jackson. He was nine, but handled it like a trooper. And no wonder – it was his third time! The first was when he was just six, following his brother Brandon whom I had taken to the Pole back in 1990.
We landed our ski-equipped Twin Otter on the sea ice – and as it’s featureless with the ice slowly moving on the Arctic Ocean surface, nothing stays there for long. So if you want a physical candy-stripe North Pole, you have to bring your own! It is so indescribable to actually be on the very top of our planet that it has to be experienced to be understood. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #95 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
HALF-FULL REPORT 07/26/24
When Israel’s Bibi Netanyahu addressed a Joint Session of Congress on Wednesday (7/24), he received a wildly enthusiastic reception by almost all Members, Democrat and Republican, who got a lot of exercise repeatedly rising to their feet giving him standing ovations. A collection of excerpts (see video):
While his funniest line was comparing Palestinian protestors carrying “Gays for Gaza” signs to those proclaiming “Chickens for KFC,” his most solemnly truthful assertion was, “They stand with evil.”
With that, it was clear he wasn’t just condemning the “useful idiots” rioting and burning American flags right outside the Capitol Building where he was speaking, but those inside in attendance like Dem Rashida Tlaib holding a “War Criminal” sign, or who were boycotting his speech like Ilhan Omar… and the President of the Senate.
Here we go – this is both an important and fun HFR… and you won’t believe what Trump’s new position is on Ukraine.
SCOUNDREL’S VIEW OF MOUNT EVEREST
You’re looking face on Everest’s West Ridge, the border of Tibet and Nepal. On the right is the Southwest Face in Nepal, on the left is the North Face in Tibet. Called Scoundrel’s View because this is a better view than trekkers to Everest Base Camp see (a viewpoint called Kala Patthar).
You have to make another trek up the Ngozumpa glacier (longest in the Himalayas) in the Gokyo valley, where above the fifth Gokyo lake at 16,400 feet you get to call yourself a “scoundrel” for seeing what Everest trekkers don’t.
High on the Northeast Ridge on the left horizon is the last place Mallory and Irvine were seen heading for the summit in 1924, and then disappeared. Hillary and Tenzing summited in 1953 via the Southeast Ridge over the right horizon. Everest Base Camp in Nepal is at the foot of the big snowy buttress below the West Ridge. Called the West Shoulder, it blocks any view of Everest from Base Camp.
On our Himalaya Helicopter Expeditions, we get an abundance of spectacular views of Everest, up close and personal – Scoundrel’s View is only one of many. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #29 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE LAND OF THE DRAGON’S BLOOD TREE
This is the Dragon’s Blood Tree, Dracaena cinnabari. It can be found in only one place on earth, a remote island called a Lost World for its uniqueness, the “most alien-looking place on our planet.”
Although it’s known as the most alien, strangest, weirdest, and bizarre place you can go to, it’s also completely safe and incredibly beautiful. Anybody who comes here returns saying, “You have to see it to believe it.” What is this place?
It’s the World Heritage Site of the island of Socotra, the “Galapagos of the Indian Ocean,” 240 miles off the coast of Yemen and now secured by the UAE. It’s hidden, remote, and far away.
We were there in 2014, and it’s been almost impossible to get to ever since. But we’ll be back next year. Let me know if you’d like to be with us. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #34 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE WATERFALLS OF KUANG SI
In the jungles of Laos less than 20 miles from the Laotian Royal Capital of Luang Prabang, you will find the entrancing waterfalls of Kuang Si. Multi-layered cascades of emerald green pure water pour into a series of pools ideal for swimming. The warm sun filters through the dark green jungle canopy. The laughter of Laotian children combined with that of the rushing waters adds to a unique serenity. Here is a place that will wash away all your woes. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #185 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
AN URGENT MESSAGE TO TTPERS FROM JACK WHEELER
My Fellow TTPers –
Tragically, the GOP is once again living up to its deserved reputation as The Stupid Party. These headlines on Fox this morning (7/23) could not be more imbecilic:
JD Vance Calls On Democrats To Invoke 25th Amendment: If Biden 'can't run... he can't serve'
'Not fit to serve': Speaker Johnson Leads GOP Demands For Biden To Resign From Presidency
How massively idiotic can you get? Nowhere in these stories do Vance or Johnson evince any awareness that if Biden resigns, Kamala automatically becomes President in the White House.
Hyper-woketard Michael Moore understands all too well. Breitbart this morning (7/23): Michael Moore Urges Biden to Resign Presidency to Help Kamala. Moore posted this open plea to FJB, after praising him for “selflessly” quitting his attempt for a second term:
“May I ask you, Mr. President, for one more brave and bold action?
Kamala Harris will be in a much stronger position to win if she can run as the President of the United States. As the incumbent President. This will give the country a chance to see her in action — as the most powerful person in the world. She will have three and a half months (as they say, ‘an eternity in politics’) to show the American people her smarts, her strengths, her heart. She is fierce, and compassionate, and unstoppable. She will have the power to issue significant executive orders that can provide help to the middle class, protect the environment, restore basic women’s rights. And to face down the man who has promised to be a dictator on Day One. For this takedown, I want a front row seat. And a large popcorn.”
Ted Cruz already understood the danger of underestimating Kamala as the incumbent Vice-President. “This is not a layup,” he warned yesterday (7/22):
“I think people are underestimating what billions of dollars of free media, of the entire corrupt corporate media complex, pitching her as a combination of Mother Teresa, Oprah and Gandhi.”
Imagine the hagiography of Kamala Worship the media will flood our country with if she is the actual President in the Oval Office.
What to do? I cannot urge you more to write or call any and all GOP House and Senate Members you can with the simple message: PLEASE STOP THIS 25TH AMENDMENT LUNACY – DON’T MAKE KAMALA THE PRESIDENT. THIS IS MADNESS, PLEASE NO.
You might also pray that Vance and Johnson regain their sanity. Pray that the Dems don’t get FJB to resign on his own. America needs your action and your prayers.
AESCHYLUS AND AMERICA
[Ereyesterday, July 20, was the 55th anniversary of humanity’s single greatest achievement. This Monday’s Archive was originally published on August 31, 2004, and is acutely relevant to today. This is a lengthy essay, which may be more easily read by clicking on the green Print button in the top right corner and printing a hard copy. It is a summation of my thoughts on America’s recent history and the choice America faces this November as it did twenty years ago.
It has the following sections: Aeschylus and Homer – Aeschylus and Neal Armstrong – Getting Drunk – Getting Sober – The Evil Eye – Terrorism As a Pathology of Envy – Liberalism As Fear of the Evil Eye – The Masochism of Liberals – The Pathology of Liberal Anti-Patriots – Aeschylus and America. Enjoy!]
TTP, August 31, 2004: Excerpt
Aeschylus and Neal Armstrong
On July 20, 1969, as I sat with a group of friends around a television in Honolulu, Hawaii, watching with awe a human being place his foot on the moon, I commented, "Neal Armstrong will be the most famous man of the 20th century." Obviously I turned out be very wrong.
America’s landing a man on the moon is the single greatest accomplishment in the history of the human race. It was an act of the purest Homeric fearless optimism. And yet after it, America — like Aeschylus and Ancient Athens –-- had a failure of nerve. Landing a man on the moon was epic heroism on a scale far beyond anything to which any other culture on earth could aspire.
It was a pinnacle that left the rest of the human race too far below. Landing a man on the moon, like the defeat of the Persians, was too unbelievably astonishing. It was a feat that placed Americans too far beyond the rest of humanity. The primordial anxiety that the gods would punish us for our succeeding too much caused us to give up. [And we have been giving up ever since, with the exception of Ronald Reagan, Bush after 9/11, and now, Donald Trump.]
LAND OF THE THUNDER DRAGON
You’ve seen a TTP Glimpse of the Tiger’s Nest, Taktsang Monastery in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. Now’s your opportunity to experience it for real.
Bhutan is a country as close to the Shangri-La of James Hilton’s 1933 classic “Lost Horizon” as you’ll find on earth today. Smaller than West Virginia, hidden between Tibet and the crest of the Himalayas to the steamy jungles of India, Bhutan is known as the Land of the Thunder Dragon. Independent for centuries and never colonized, Bhutan is a magic place that is spectacularly unique.
Experiencing Bhutan is a true adventure. Quite frankly, Bhutan is as fabulously exotic as our world gets. At the same time, no other country is as serenely peaceful as Bhutan, no people more contented and cheerful as the Bhutanese, no land more welcoming and hospitable.
Bhutan’s culture is a unique mix of the ancient Himalayan animism called Bön and Tibetan Tantric Buddhism. The Bhutanese are renowned for being among the happiest people on our planet. They love to laugh, sing, dance, and play – and you’ll be invited to join them. Bhutanese happiness is infectious. One very good reason we TTPers will have a happy time of our lives on our Bhutan adventure this coming November. Read on for more info and cool photos.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY – WASHINGTON POST, APRIL 16, 1986
This is the story on me in WaPo that chronicled my creation and implementation of The Reagan Doctrine and established my reputation in DC. The WaPo writer was very gracious and genuinely interested in my story. He told it straight and accurately quoted the people in the Reagan White House with whom I worked. I had no idea, though, that the story would be so large, spread across the front page of the Style section and continuing for another full page.
Unfortunately, you need get behind the WaPo paywall to read the entire article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/04/16/jack-wheelers-adventures-with-the-freedom-fighters/7869872b-a5db-4acf-9ed9-7bc14dac9e9e/. . (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #301, photo ©Jack Wheeler)
HALF-FULL REPORT 07/19/24
Easy to believe an Act of Providence saved his life for the sake of America, isn’t it? The slightest turn of the head at the very last fraction of a second was the difference between life and death by a few millimeters:
Glenn Beaton expressed the consequence many have noticed:
“(At) the Convention, Trump seemed different. He seemed more calm, more at peace. Fire no longer spews from his mouth. Rather, a radiance shines from his eyes. He’s becoming a leader. Not the “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!” type, although those were his words as his fists pounded the air when he rose from the stage floor last Saturday afternoon.
That was then, when he’d been cowardly ambushed by another messed-up product of our messed-up culture. Trump’s defiance and fight were the natural and right reaction. But bravado now is unnecessary and unhelpful. Now, he knows he’s been tasked with something big, and so do the people. Now, he and they know that he’s fully capable of performing this task. Now, he and they know his orange head has a purpose more noble than being exploded by a bullet, and more graceful than spouting inflammatory rhetoric.
His old opponents in the Republican Party have gathered round him. He has the endorsement of virtually all of them and many who are new to the Party – from Silicon Valley moguls, to one of the world’s richest men, to each of his vanquished rivals, to an ever-increasing share of Black America, to most Hispanic Americans. What they see is what I see: A quiet confidence, an unexpected patience, a deep resolve to complete – or at least resume – a task much bigger than he.
Trump is no longer a man, you see, but a movement. A mission. We’re witnessing something historic.”
Many of the RNC Convention speeches were inspiring and remarkable, but even more so was Trump’s last night – 92 minutes straight of dragon energy, eloquent and profoundly moving. Watch at your convenience the full video here, read the full transcript here.
But before we discuss where we go from here, there’s something I have to get off my chest.
POPEYE’S VILLAGE
Ever see the 1980 movie Popeye starring Robin Williams? It takes place in the seaside town of Sweethaven – and you’re looking at it. The film set was built in a cove on the northern end of the island of Malta in the Mediterranean just for the movie.
It’s now been transformed into a Disney-type fun park for kids and families. Not what you expect to find in an island famous for ancient temples older than the pyramids, massive medieval fortresses that were scenes of battles that saved Western Civilization, magnificently ornate Renaissance cathedrals, gorgeous beaches and breathtaking scenery. But here it is, with shows, rides, and play houses filled with children laughing and exploring. One more reason to love Malta. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #147 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE TEMPLE OF ULU WATU
Built 1,000 years ago on the edge of a cliff hundreds of feet above the sea on the island of Bali, the sacred temple of Ulu Watu is one of the holiest places of worship for the Balinese people. They have retained their unique form of Balinese Hinduism for millennia that incorporates their original animism, ancestor worship, and reverence for Buddhist saints or Bodhisattva. This has resulted in a spiritual warmth and gentle friendliness matched by few other places on earth. It is little wonder so many who come here consider Bali to be a worldly paradise. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #108 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE PILLARS OF HERCULES
On either side of the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar there are two small mountains known since great antiquity as the Pillars of Hercules. The pillar on the northern, European side is the famous Rock of Gibraltar. That on the southern, African side is Mount Abyla, Phoenician for “lofty mountain.”
The legend for the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans was that Hercules pushed the two pillars apart to join the Mediterranean with the Atlantic. We think today of Hercules as a comic-book bodybuilder, while the truth is opposite. The entire ancient Mediterranean world very seriously worshipped him. For the Phoenicians, he was Melqart, King of the Earth. For the Greeks, he was Heracles, Divine Protector of Mankind. He was the same for the Romans, who pronounced his name as Hercules.
The Phoenician trading port of Abyla has a history of 3,000 years, from Phoenician to Carthaginian to Roman to Byzantine to Christian Visigoths to Islamic Berbers to Portuguese – and since 1668 to Spain, which continues to govern it today as the Spanish Autonomous City of Ceuta on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco.
Ceuta is a charming European city with beautiful beaches, open air cafés with great sangria, very relaxed and pleasant. It is here you find the statue of Hercules separating his Pillars commemorating the legend pictured above. Easy to get to with high-speed ferries from Algeciras near Gibraltar, Ceuta is definitely worth your while to experience. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #137 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE VOODOO MARKET OF TOGO
The Akodessawa Fetish Market in Lomé, Togo has to be seen to be believed. Here on display is a vast array of animal parts -- heads, skulls, bones, horns, skins et al – for sale to the adherents of Togo’s official religion of Voodoo. They are used to communicate with and pray to the huge variety of spirits and deities they believe in.
What you see here is a very small fraction of the market – there are thousands of animal parts here from entire elephant skulls to small mummified rodents. Behind the displays are stalls where voodoo priests cater to devotees for healing potions or being an interlocutor to the spirits. This is not sticking pins in dolls of enemies. The people of Togo and neighboring Benin believe deeply in their religion. Togo in West Africa is the size of New Jersey and has over 130 fetish markets in the country, with the largest here. This is an experience you never forget.
(Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #273 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
GAME OVER
No Archive today – overtaken by the astonishing events of last Saturday afternoon (7/13) and since. The purpose here is to make one simple result of those events:
It’s Game Over. For FJB’s or any other Dem’s presidential candidacy. For the woke scumbags who run the FJB White House. For the Dem woketards in the House & Senate. For the woke media. For DEI hires in government and business (epitomized now by the head of security for Pepsi Cola in charge of the Secret Service). For the entire agenda of the Hate America Left to destroy our country.
There will be all manner of pathetic whimperings to uselessly prevent this. What will end them quickly would be a full-throated demand by speaker after speaker at the RNC Convention starting today (7/15) that FJB personally, along with innumerable Dem politicians, their media propagandists, and brainless “celebrities” apologize to President Trump for creating the hate that made the assassination attempt upon him possible if not inevitable.
FJB must be made to personally apologize and take responsibility for the consequences of this:
FLASHBACK FRIDAY – CLIMBING MOUNT OLYMPUS
August, 1971. Here is where the Ancient Greeks believed their 12 Olympian Gods lived, on the summit of the highest peak of Olympus – Mytikas at 9,571ft/2,918m. There are 52 jagged prominences of Olympus, but if you want to commune with Zeus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Athena and the rest, this is where you go.
It takes just two days: morning drive from Athens (4 hrs) to Litochoro, then the roadhead at Priona (2,500ft). Afternoon hike of some 3 hours through pretty pine forests to the comfortable Spilios Agapitos refuge (6,700ft) for dinner and a bunk bed overnight. You’re up at dawn for a strenuous but not technical climb up to Skala peak at 9,400ft. In my photo, you’re looking at Mytikas from Skala. It’s a Class B rock scramble – no ropes or gear, but this shouldn’t be your first mountain rodeo. Be careful!
I was by myself at the Mytikas summit and no selfies in those days, so I said my greetings to the gods, and I was back down at the refuge by lunchtime. You’ll be back at the Plaka below the Acropolis in Athens for ouzo and dinner. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #45 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
HALF-FULL REPORT 07/12/24
Put another way, this is what we’re up against:
The Democrats’ invasion of illegal alien vampires sucking the blood of taxpayers with Democrat-sponsored welfare like food stamps, free housing, cash payments on and on. All for the purpose of millions of illegals casting illegal votes to keep their Deep State in power. Here’s what you can personally do about it.
Lots more in this HFR so jump on in.
THE CHRISTIAN CATHEDRAL OF A COUNTRY THAT DOESN’T EXIST
Banja Luka, Srpska. You may never have of this country, the Republic of Srpska, that takes up half the size and 40% of the population of the Balkan country of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The entire country was conquered and ruled for centuries by the Islamic Ottoman Empire, thus after the Ottomans fell in WWI and Yugoslavia broke apart after the Soviet Union fell, those Bosnians who retained adherence to Christianity through those centuries of Islamic occupation found themselves greatly outnumbered by those who had converted to Islam (“Bosniaks”). So they (Bosnian Serbs) formed their own country which remains unrecognized by every other country on the planet.
They rebuilt their beautiful Cathedral of Christ the Savior – destroyed in WWII and never allowed rebuilding by Communist Yugoslavia – in their capital of Banja Luka. You can see how gorgeous the interior is from the photo. The whole country is beautiful with its lakes, forests, rivers, vineyards, sprinkled with old castles and charming villages. The people of Srpska are proud of what they have achieved and now simply want to live in peace with their neighbors. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #300, photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE SPIRAL CHURCH OF UVEA
Halfway between Samoa and Fiji in the South Pacific lies the French Territory of Wallis and Futuna. It’s so hard to reach I had to charter a King Air private plane to get here in 2016. The capital is Mata-Utu on Wallis Island which the native Polynesian islanders call Uvea. French missionaries arrived at Uvea in 1837 to convert the islanders to Roman Catholic Christianity. They were Marist Brothers, a branch of the Society of Mary. Today, 99% of the native islanders are Catholic.
The spiral church you see, Église du Sacré-Coeur (Church of the Sacred Heart) was built in the early 1900s out of hand-cut volcanic rocks. The interior is spectacular, and if you look high up on the fourth tier you’ll see a figure in an opening. That’s a statue of Jesus with arms outstretched in welcome to all who worship here. The islanders consider themselves French citizens with representation in both the French Senate and National Assembly in Paris. At the same time they consider themselves ruled by their own king – the King of Uvea (Wallis) and the King of Sigave (Futuna), which the French government recognizes. This is a peaceful, friendly, interesting place. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #299, photo ©Jack Wheeler)
A SULTAN’S ARABIA
Nakhal Castle, Oman. If you want to see an ultra-rich Arab sheikdom with exotically designed skyscrapers, you go to Qatar or Dubai. But if you want a more genuine Arabia of Sultan’s palaces, of forts and castles perched on rocky crags, of traditional villages tucked away in mountain fastnesses, of rock pools and grottoes gushing with spring water hidden in secret valleys, a place out of Arabian Nights rather than one of garish ostentatiousness – then you come here to the Sultanate of Oman.
Omanis are a polyglot people from all over Arabia, Persia, and India who’ve lived here for millennia, creating a cosmopolitan trading society that adheres to its traditional culture. There are fabulous hotels with great bars, concerts by the Omani Philharmonic Orchestra, and once outside the capital of Muscat, an Arabian wonderland so exotic it seems out of a movie. We'll be here again. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #119 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE ISLAND OF SARK
There are five Channel Islands in the English Channel. Best known are Guernsey and Jersey. Least visited is Alderney, along with tiny Herm. Most fascinating is Sark, Europe’s only remaining feudal fiefdom. No motor vehicles are allowed, excepting a few farmers’ small tractors. The governor and chief constable is called the Seneschal. He rides to his office on his bicycle.
It’s an ancient office with a tradition of many centuries. When I was there in 2010, it was held by Reginald Guille, a very friendly fellow as all Sarkese are. We rode our bikes around the island, even along La Coupée, the connecting path along the razor sharp high isthmus connecting two parts of the island – it’s pictured above.
There are gorgeous pocket beaches here, and beautiful natural swimming pools. Flower gardens are everywhere, the island could not be safer, cleaner, calmer, and more exquisitely charming. A few days here will do wonders for you. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #131 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
AMERICA’S CURSE
[This Monday’s Archive was originally published on July 9, 2003, 21 years ago almost to the day. The war that the Mexican government and ruling elite that this article warned about then has become unimaginably worse, with Obrador – yes, the article warns about him too – in power since 2018 and forming an alliance with Chicom China to destroy America via illegal invasion and drug smuggling. Yet upon reflection today, we must recognize that America’s Curse is not Mexico, but Woke Left Americans who want their own country destroyed. It is they who enable Obrador and the Chicoms to succeed in their war against us.]
TTP, July 9, 2003
In a talk entitled "The Map of the Future" I gave last week in Dallas, I discussed which countries throughout the world were or could become the greatest threats to America's national security. At the top of the list, more dangerous than Iran or North Korea or China, I placed Mexico.
The bottomless inferiority complex that Mexico feels towards America is summed up in an old saying known to all Mexicans as "Mexico's Curse," the lament that their country is "So far from God, so close to the United States."
The truth, however, is the reverse. Today, Americans lament "America's Curse," that their country is so close to Mexico.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: BRANDON AT THE TAJ
August 1993, Taj Mahal, Agra, India. I took my son Brandon here for his 10th birthday. Here is one supremely happy boy. One of the greatest gifts you can give your children or grandchildren is to take them on a great adventure, to explore the world with them. And it is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. It is a bonding experience that will last all of your life and theirs. Never pass up the opportunity, search for the opportunity instead. This is life-enrichment at its best. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #272 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THEO HOLIDAY WHEELER WISHES ALL TTPERS A HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND!
Happy Fourth Weekend from the Youngest TTPer at 9 months old to all TTPers young and old. Have fun celebrating America’s Birthday! Theo, Jack and Rebel’s grandson.
OUR FOUNDERS
On this July Fourth, it is only appropriate to pay homage to America’s most revered and beloved founders, George Washington, the Father of our country, and Thomas Jefferson, the Author of our Declaration of Independence. It may seem a puzzle to some that Washington’s signature is not on it. That’s because, as Commander of the Continental Army, he was defending New York City from British attack. A copy of the DI was sent to him by express rider on order by John Hancock, which Washington read to his troops on July 9.
It’s best not to think of their reaction to seeing America right now, as that’s too depressing. Instead, we need to summon within ourselves what we can of their courage, genius, and integrity to place America on a path of which they would be proud. May they inspire us all. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #270 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
NO NAKED HOMES IN MADEIRA
Funchal, Madeira. On the Portuguese island of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean, there is a common expression: “A home without flowers is like a naked person without clothes.” Here is an example, one of many thousands. The Portuguese explorers discovered Madeira in 1419. It was uninhabited at the time and always had been, no human being had ever been there before. Over the seven centuries since, an enormous variety of plants from all over the world were brought here and flourished in the eternal spring weather and volcanic soil. Every fruit, vegetable, tree, bush, flower easily grows here, a botanist’s paradise. And a paradise for the people who live here, who love to beautify their homes and towns with gorgeous gardens everywhere. Come with Rebel and me to see for yourself. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #298, photo ©Jack Wheeler)
HEAVEN ON HERM
Belvoir Beach, Herm, Channel Islands. Could there be a more idyllic lunch—grilled lobster, fresh garden salad, chilled Chardonnay – here on Herm, the smallest of the five main Channel Islands. There’s Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, Alderney – and tiny Herm. Less than one square mile, but overflowing with charm and hospitality – from the Victorian White House Hotel to the Mermaid Pub to lobsters at Belvoir Beach. Coming here is a true escape from the worries of the world. At Herm they are a long ways away. Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #177 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE GOLDEN THRONE OF KING TUT
Now on display in National Museum of Egypt in Cairo, the 3,340 year-old artistic masterpiece of Pharoah Tutankhamun and his wife Ankhesenamun portrayed on facing back of the king’s throne chair was discovered by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.
I was stunned beyond words when I first saw it in 1971, and every time I’ve seen it since, I’m shocked into the same state of awe. It’s not simply the sheer beauty of the blue lapis lazuli, the red carnelian, the silver and the solid gold plate, nor the breathtaking skill of artistry. It’s that the scene is so profoundly, so touchingly human. As she gently rubs oil on to his arms, they are looking into each other’s eyes with the tenderness of love.
This is not some God-King high and mighty ruler and haughty Queen far above their lowly subjects, but a very human man and wife in love. This golden throne speaks to us from 33 centuries ago that back then people were people like us. Our connection to history is our common humanity. I hope someday you will be able to see the Golden Throne of King Tut in Cairo, and be in awe of it for yourself. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #168 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE LEFT’S STILLICIDAL STRATEGY TO DESTROY AMERICA
[This Monday’s Archive was published on July 29, 2016, before Trump’s election. After 4 years of Trump’s finger in America’s dam, the floodgates of Left insanity were opened wider than ever resulting in the political and moral cesspool of America today. Here, eight years ago, is an explanation of the Left’s strategy to create this.]
TTP, July 29, 2016
Let me introduce a new word into your vocabulary, a word that encapsulates the Left’s strategy to demolish every institution of American culture and the traditional values of American society.
The word is stillicide. The dictionary definition has nothing to do with politics, nor does it refer to some form of killing like suicide, genocide, homicide et al. It refers rather to a physical process derived from the Latin stillicidium: stilla, drops, plus cidium, a declension of cadere, to fall.
Stillicide, stilliciduous, stillicidal thus refer to “a continual dripping of water falling in drops.”
How about that for a light bulb going on in your head?
It sure explains, just to take one example, why race relations in America have gotten worse, far worse, after Zero’s election in 2008.
Why have Zero and his minions in the media done everything they could to divide us on race instead of uniting us, culminating today in the fascist thuggery of Only Black Lives Matter and the murder epidemic of white cops?
Because the hideous secret hidden in every Leftie soul is….
FLASHBACK FRIDAY – SLEEPING IN AN IGLOO
April 1990. When our oldest son Brandon was six years old, I took him with me to the North Pole. It was my 14th expedition there, and as always, we stopped to visit friends at Canada’s northernmost community, the Inuit hunting village of Grise Fiord on Ellesmere Island. Brandon thought it would be cool to sleep in an igloo, which the Inuit do only when they’re hunting seals or walrus far out on the ice.
So the villagers happily complied, showing him how they built one, carving out blocks of wind-blown snow, shaping and placing them in an inward-sloped spiral with one block on top, and packing snow as mortar between the blocks. When it was bedtime – still daylight with 24-hour sunshine by April – they lined the inside with caribou skins, which shed like crazy with hairs everywhere but sure are warm. Snuggled into our arctic down sleeping bags, we slept like stones.
It was an experience both of us will never forget. Never pass up an opportunity to have an adventure with your kids they’ll always remember. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #50 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
HALF-FULL-REPORT 06/28/24
Last night (6/27), observed the NY Post, We Just Witnessed the End of Joe Biden’s Presidency. Here’s just one example of why out of so many. And note PDJT’s off-the-cuff ROTFLMAO funny put down responding to FJB’s lunatic claim the Border Patrol endorsed him: “By the way, the Border Patrol endorsed me not you… Brandon, just speak to them…” (Watch)
It was not, however, just how awful FJB was that has the Dems in panic. It was how good Trump was, gone was the intemperate shouting firebrand, replaced by presidential demeanor who never lost his cool. Watch CNN’s John King explain there is a growing chorus of Dem leaders’ demand that Biden step out and let the August DNC Convention select another candidate: (Watch_
All in all, a massive win for Trump and America last night. And that’s far, far from all. Wait ‘till you read about The Errol Flynn Supreme Court. This has been an incredible week. Let’s go!
THE LION ROCK OF SIGIRIYA
Rising 600 feet above the jungles of central Ceylon (Sri Lanka) is a gigantic rock column revered for millennia as Sigiriya – Lion Rock from Sanskrit. It’s flat on top, used over centuries as a Buddhist monastery and a fortress by kings. In 480, King Kashyapa had the image of a lion carved into the rock as the entrance gate to his fortress-palace on top. All that’s left are the lion’s paws that you see.
It was a risky climb via stone stairs carved into the rock getting to the top. Today there’s a much safer wooden staircase. It’s a pilgrimage site for Sri Lankans where they get to celebrate their history and enjoy the gorgeous view on top. It’s a marvelous experience for you to participate in. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #158 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE AVATAR MOUNTAINS
The gigantic forest-covered stone pillars of Zhangjiajie in a remote region of Hunan are so famous for being a featured location in the Avatar movie they’ve been renamed the Avatar Mountains. You can take a cable car through them to view them from above. Hard to get to and certainly worth it. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #269 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
MONTEZUMA’S CASTLE
When American explorers came upon this extraordinary cliff dwelling in 1860s Arizona, they dubbed it “Montezuma’s Castle” on a whim. The Aztec ruler had nothing to do with it, of course. The Anasazi people built a number of these marvelous structures in the Southwest, high up on cliffs above a river that seasonally flooded.
For hundreds of years the Anasazi flourished, skilled agriculturalists and brilliant at constructing vast irrigation systems. Yet it all came to naught with a devastating megadrought with no rain for many decades, culminating in the collapse of the Anasazi culture and abandonment of their cliff dwellings by the early 1500s.
Another lesson that it is nature that control’s the Earth’s climate, not us. You’ll find Montezuma’s Castle above Beaver Creek south of Sedona. It’s a marvel not to be missed. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #194 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE LESHAN GIANT BUDDHA
Carved out of a cliff face of red sandstone on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau over 1,200 years ago by Buddhist monks, the 233 ft-high Leshan Giant Buddha is the largest and tallest stone Buddha statue in the world.
I took this picture from a boat on the river that runs past it. As you can see by Buddhist pilgrims working their way down the stone steps on the side and in front carrying umbrellas, it’s raining. Rain is so frequent here that a sophisticated drainage system was incorporated into the statue when it was built. It is still in working order. Behind the Buddha’s head, between his two ears, and scattered throughout his body, there are several hidden gutters and channels carrying out the rainwater that have kept the inner areas dry and prevented the Buddha from eroding since the 8th century.
Knowing this adds to the wonder of beholding this extraordinary achievement. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #268 photo ©Jack Wheeler)