SKYE’S LINKS 11/16/23
Good news! This is a real step in the right direction!! A strong bipartisan bill protecting the 4th Amendment rights of Americans is coming out of Congress. This bill goes far beyond reforming Section 702, it prohibits any government agency from buying information on Americans from a data broker without a search warrant signed by a judge based on sworn probable cayuse.
It gets even better! It prohibits government from demanding business records (such as your phone and bank records) with a mere administrative demand or subpoena; a real search warrant will be required. The bill also contains audit provisions and penalties for violations. The Xiden administration has said that they will veto it, even without having read it:
Biden White House Shoots Down Massive Bipartisan Surveillance Reform Bill They Have Not Read Yet
This edition of Skye’s Links is chock full of good, even wonderful news, plus cautionary and useful news as well. And we end with what Trump’s plans are for a second term – now we know! So come on in…
THE GOP IS A FAKE OPPOSITION PARTY WITH NO VISION FOR THE COUNTRY
When Louisiana’s Mike Johnson was pulled from obscurity and elected House speaker last month, many conservatives were cautiously optimistic that the man with the self-professed biblical “worldview” and somewhat solid voting record would be the fighter they’ve needed to halt Democrats’ Marxist takeover of society.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long to discover that Johnson is just as weak-kneed as his Republican predecessors.
On Tuesday afternoon, Johnson and House Republicans surrendered to Democrats yet again on a major government spending fight. Rather than stand strong and fight for conservative priorities, Johnson agreed to another continuing resolution, or CR, to keep the federal government funded through the beginning of next year.
Unsurprisingly, the proposal does nothing to address key issues plaguing the nation, such as the Biden-manufactured crisis at the U.S. southern border, and maintains already-high spending levels.
ARE KREMLIN OFFICIALS DOING DRESS REHEARSALS FOR PUTIN’S FUNERAL?
A Funeral Speech for Putin?
A trickle of whispers has become a firehose of rumors as Kremlin watchers spot multiple signs that Putin may have died, or that he may do so very soon.
“Let me comment like this: Something very strange is going on in the Kremlin,” says distinguished Russia expert Anders Aslund in describing Putin’s alleged death.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health has been a contentious point of speculation as his public appearances routinely trigger rumors of cancer, Parkinsons, bathing in deer antler blood, or simply having a steroids habit developed from his obsession with body-building.
Unlike earlier times, the recent rumors about the 71-year-old having died, something which the Kremlin denies, comes in tandem with several other signs that some Russia-watchers believe may be a configuration in the tea leaves indicating a political change is afoot in Moscow.
BIRTHPLACE OF A GODDESS
This is the Rock of Aphrodite – where Greek mythology says the Goddess of Love was born fully formed from the sea-foam surging around it – and makes Cyprus the Island of Love. It is south of Paphos on the island’s west coast.
Adjacent is the Temple Sanctuary of Aphrodite, where pilgrims came from every Greek city and kingdom for 2,000 years to worship her. The ancient Greeks prayed to Aphrodite more than any of their other gods, for she was the apotheosis of love, desire, and fertility or having children. Which explains why today couples travel from all over the world to get married here.
Folks have been living in Cyprus for a really long time. So long that they were the first people in the world to domesticate cats over 9,000 years ago. A Neolithic village has been unearthed called Choirokoitia that’s surprisingly sophisticated for being 8,000 years old. In Roman times, after Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead, he went to Cyprus -- there is a beautiful church, the Agios Lazaros, built over his tomb.
The Painted Churches of Troodos are adorned with magnificent medieval art. The ruins of a Crusaders’ fortress inspired the fairy tale castle of Walt Disney’s Snow White. I hope Cyprus’ inspirational history will inspire you to explore it someday. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #101 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE DAMAGE OF THE WHITE PRIVILEGE SLANDER INDUSTRY
One of the key reasons leftwing anti-Semites have been so effective at galvanizing campus hatred of Israel, and by association of Jews in general, is their careful effort to brand themselves DEI victims whiles tarring Jews with the empty white supremacy slur.
Accordingly, Jews and Israel now supposedly enjoy toxic white privilege. They are libeled as veritable white supremacists illegitimately in the Middle East to colonize “Palestine,” and as European imperialists picking up the mantle of the earlier 19th century British and French—as if a prior 400 years of Ottoman imperialism in the Middle East never occurred.
As now-privileged white victimizers, contemporary Jews are not seen as victims of the Holocaust, explaining the comfortable alliance between Islamist Holocaust deniers and the DEI crowd.
It was no accident that a racist BLM on news of the October 7 massacres quickly issued posters glorifying Hamas hang-gliding murderers.
Jews are now collateral damage from the damning of an entire group of people, namely white Americans and Europeans.
WHAT REPUBLICANS DON’T UNDERSTAND ABOUT HOW BIDEN REALLY WINS ELECTIONS
Do polls matter when Dems continue to win anyway?
In the aftermath of another disappointing election night for Republicans, questions need to be asked about supposedly non-partisan get-out-the-vote (GOTV) operations Democrats are using to ensure their low-propensity voters – and only their low-propensity voters – get to the polls.
On March 7, 2021, Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting, President Biden instructed every federal agency to submit a plan to leverage their agency’s personnel and assets to help turn out the vote.
For example, agencies might use internal data to identify aid recipients who are not registered to vote, then use agency personnel to get them registered and ensure their ballot is cast and counted.
Anyone who criticizes GOTV efforts gets accused of wanting to suppress voting. But it’s not voting to which we should object – it’s the exclusive collection of ballots from Democratic voting blocks. Especially since federal employees are explicitly prohibited by law from participating in political activities.
THE WORLD’S MOST UNUSUAL GRAVES
East of Borneo in Indonesia is a large starfish-shaped Island called Sulawesi, where in the south-central mountains the Toraja people have created one of the most exotic cultures on earth. They bury their dead in caves carved out of vertical cliffs, with balconies at the entrances lined with clothed wooden effigies called a Tau Tau as guardians for the departed.
The Toraja live in villages composed of family long houses with enormous peaked roofs of wood and thatch, decorated with exquisite painted art and scores of buffalo horns. While Indonesia is predominantly Moslem, the Toraja are a blend of Christian-animist. They are a gentle, peaceful people, marvelously welcoming and friendly. It is a priceless privilege to spend time with them, as I was able to during the summer of 2016. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #49 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
A LOO WITH A VIEW
While exploring the Roman ruins of Sabratha on the Mediterranean coast of Libya in 2014, I came upon the men’s bathroom in the Gymnasium. “Now here’s a loo with a view!” I exclaimed, and noticed it was designed to have water flowing through the trough below the series of toilets.
Founded as a trading post by the Phoenicians in the 6th century BC, it was settled and rebuilt by the Romans some 500 years later, flourishing for centuries as a main supplier of olive oil for the Empire. Monumental temples and theatres were constructed, along with sumptuous villas adorned with gorgeous mosaic floors. All of this has been excavated for the visitor to explore as a preserved UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It’s a shame Libya has collapsed into chaos now, for Sabratha and nearby Leptis Magna are among the most magnificent Roman ruins anywhere. One day the chaos will be over. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #246 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE SELF-HATING DISHONESTY OF THE MEDIA
[This month’s Archive was first published om May 9, 2012. Just like a leopard never changes its spots, the media never changes its self-hating dishonesty, transforming their self-loathing into a hatred for America.]
TTP May 9, 2012
The most destructive, dishonest, and criminally hypocritical people in America today are not Democrat politicians, black race hustlers, Ivy League Marxist professors, or crony/shyster capitalists.
They are the publishers, editors, journalists, and commentators of the Liberal Media: Associated Press-New York Times-WaPo-ABC-NBC-CBS-CNN-MSNBC et al.
We’ll abbreviate Big Liberal Media to simply "BM" – appropriately enough for their product is the same as what those initials usually stand for.
One of the more astounding things about BM is that its slavish boot-licking of American Commiecrats is indistinguishable from that of Pravda’s or Izvestiya’s over Soviet rulers during the Cold War – yet with no gun at their heads nor threat of the Gulag. Why? Here’s the explanation.
I REFUSE
