FLASHBACK FRIDAY: THE HOLE OF SORROWS
Let’s flashback 2.2 million Fridays to 4,000 BC, six thousand years ago, when the original inhabitants of post-Ice Age Ireland erected this megalithic “dolmen” or portal tomb. It consists of three standing portal stones suspending a massive horizontal capstone, the limestone entrance to a tomb originally covered with an earthen mound.
Eventually the mound weathered away revealing the stone “skeleton” which was a sacred shrine for the Megalithic Irish all the way to the medieval Celts even though in a remote barren rocky region of far western Ireland found now in County Clare.
When it was finally excavated in 1986, the remains of 33 humans were found in the burial chamber below who lived between 3,800 and 3,200 BC. Thus it became known as “The Hole of Sorrows.”
When you come to gaze upon The Hole of Sorrows, you realize that this massive stone structure, one thousand four hundred years older than Egypt’s Great Pyramid, has stood here for all of recorded human history and beyond. All the kings and empires of all history have come and gone, while it still stands. It’s megalithic creators of millennia ago would be proud. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #219 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
TAKEN 2024
HALF-FULL REPORT 04/26/24
Losing Control
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In the heart of a democratic society, the power of knowledge and information must be firmly in the hands of the people. By having the freedom to access accurate and diverse information, individuals can make informed decisions that shape their lives and hold their elected officials accountable. This fosters a deep connection between the people and their government, ensuring that the needs and desires of the citizens are heard and addressed. Moreover, the free flow of information nurtures transparency and openness, vital elements that uphold the foundation of our democratic societies. When information is controlled by governments or other powerful entities, it can be manipulated to sway public opinion, silence dissenting voices, and maintain a stranglehold on power. This dark path can lead to corruption, abuse of power, and countless other negative consequences. Therefore, it is absolutely essential for free men to seize control of their own information, guarding the health and well-being of our democracy.
Come on over to the HFR, a new age is dawning, and the old ways just cant seem to cope.
THE SULTAN ASTRONOMER
You’re looking at something historically and scientifically astonishing. It is what remains of an astronomical observatory built 600 years ago – in 1420 – by a Sultan in Central Asia who loved science and mathematics more than war and conquest.
It was in Samarkand, the most fabled oasis of the Silk Road, that Sultan Ulugh Beg built his circular observatory, three stories high of white marble. All that’s left today is part of the underground sextant that you see in the photo.
For the full story of what he achieved, with many more photos, click on The Sultan Astronomer in TTP I wrote in 2020.
This Glimpse is to whet your appetite to learn about this amazing Sultan and his scientific achievements.
It’s also to whet your appetite for joining your fellow TTPers on our Heart of Central Asia expedition this September. The story of The Sultan Astronomer is but one example of what awaits you in exploring Central Asia, an enrichment of your life beyond description. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #212 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
SKYE’S LINKS 04/25/24
I hope you’ve taken your heart medicine because the RNC seems to be doing something useful at last – complete shocker. Truth is being spoken more often and louder by conservatives, SCOTUS has handed down another rational decision, and the ‘Crats are beginning to experience some good pushback. Anti-semite lefties are already planning social rioting after the election (though that’s nothing new), and calls for information are getting louder and more demanding of information from Fauci and the NIH.
Set some time aside to read what The Mises Institute has provided: First, a nice summary of Mises’ Six Lessons on Economic Policy, and then a free pdf of his whole book. This will come in handy because we’re facing a worsening economy, but you’ll forget that when you read Biden’s claim that his Uncle Bosie, in spite of what the military records say,
was a man of good taste. Dive in!
Finally, it looks as if the RNC is doing something useful:
Trump Campaign and RNC Reveal Massive Election Integrity Program
AMERICA AT MOUNT RUSHMORE
I took this photo of Mount Rushmore looking straight on from a helicopter – so it may be from an angle you have not seen before. This coming election in November and on Veterans Day (11/11), it may be worthwhile to think of these four heroic Americans from a different perspective, to reflect on the almost unimaginable -- in the light of our comfortable lives we live today – challenges they faced and triumphed over to create and sustain our America.
It is worth asking what would they say to us today, what advice and counsel would they give us on how to face and triumph over what unimaginable – to them during their lives – challenges of ours as Americans today.
Look into their eyes. What are they saying to you? Election week and Veterans Day is a time of deep reflection on the meaning of being American. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #173 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
WHEN “DIVIDE AND CONQUER” UNITES AND ENRAGES
In two previous essays, I have discussed popular nullification in the context of the American people rejecting the State’s propaganda and withdrawing their respect for the rule of law.
As the U.S. and other Western governments continue to engage in a cognitive war against their own citizens, an increasing share of Western populations will conclude that their own institutions have been secretly targeting them as enemies.
Because the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, and other globalist bodies have chosen to spread falsehoods (first they panicked about “global cooling” before pushing the more terrifying “global boiling,” after all) in a calculated campaign to sow public fear and drive public policy, authority figures have forfeited the public’s trust. As Western governments and their international coalitions (e.g., the World Health Organization) respond to the public’s rejection of their authority by imposing new censorship and surveillance rules on society, the fracture separating the governing from the governed will widen into an unbridgeable crevasse.
THE HONEST PRO-ABORTION ARGUMENT
On the HBO show “Real Time With Bill Maher,” guests Piers Morgan and Gillian Tett were discussing a 15-week abortion ban as an unofficial American standard and comparing it to the rest of the world. By the way, the U.S. remains one of only seven nations in the world permitting abortion all the way through pregnancy — China, Vietnam, and North Korea among the others.
Predictably, Tett went to the usual leftist tactic by asking why we even care, adding that it’s outdated and strange that people do. This is where host and comedian Bill Maher chimed in, giving a refreshingly honest — if also rather horrifying — take on the pro-choice argument. He started out by addressing Tett’s conviction that focusing on the abortion issue is strange, saying, “Not if you think it’s murder.”
THE REGISTAN OF SAMARKAND
The magnificent Sher-Dor Madrassa, built in the early 1600s, is part of the Registan public square complex of the ancient Silk Road oasis of Samarkand. What’s fascinating is the mosaic depiction of living beings on either side of the arch – a tiger and on its back a rising sun deity with a human face. This is honoring the pre-Islamic history of Samarkand that goes back almost 3,000 years.
It was centuries old when Alexander conquered it in 329 BC. For a thousand years as Central Asia’s great entrepot on the Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean, it was a cosmopolitan center for Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Nestorian Christianity. Incorporated into the Islamic world in the 700s, sacked by Genghiz Khan in 1220, rebuilt by the time Marco Polo in 1272 described it as “a large and splendid city,” Tamerlane made it his capital in 1370.
Colonized by Czar Alexander II in the 1860s within the Russian Imperial Empire, and by the Soviets in the 1920s within the Uzbek SSR, Samarkand is flourishing today in independent Uzbekistan. There is so much to learn and contemplate upon when you are here. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #67 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
FOR THE CHILDREN, HUH?
One of the more insidious psy-ops that the Left has employed—at times, with the acquiescence of the political Right—is their use of “children” as props to get their way on things.
They realize that among normal people, protection of children and families rings loudly, so they seek to co-opt that language to get their way on things.
And per the Charlie Brown and Lucy Football Paradigm, many on the Right never seem to learn. They are not called out nearly enough.
A casual examination of standard liberal shibboleths and best practices reveals that once the rubber meets the proverbial runway, they don’t appear to have much use for either children or their welfare.
So let’s start calling them out!