THE ARIRANG MASS GAMES IN NORTH KOREA
The spectacle takes place in the fall at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang. I attended in 2010 and 2012. It has to be seen to be believed. You’re looking at 10,000 dancers, acrobats and performers on the stadium floor. The background screen of a rising sun and Korean letters is a “card stunt,” 30,000 students holding colored cards composing it.
The number “65” is for the 65th anniversary of the surrender of Imperial Japan in World War II (August 15, 1945 – I took this photo in 2010), their Liberation Day (our V-J Day). The snowy mountain depicted below the 65 is Mount Paekdu, where all North Koreans are taught their country’s founder Kim Il-sung defeated the Japanese and won the war (he was actually at a Soviet army camp near Khabarovsk, Siberia at the time).
They are never taught a word about the events a few days prior to their Liberation Day (i.e. Hiroshima and Nagasaki), nor to whom the Japanese surrendered. Hands down, NorkLand is the world’s most bizarre country. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #88 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
KEEPING YOUR SANITY WITH TREASURES OF HUMAN CONNECTION
[Note by Jack Wheeler: In all the time Joel has been sharing his wisdom on TTP, this is truly exceptional. Please take it to heart, as it will do your heart and mind a world of good. It’s such a clear example of the value of his course, which I’m studying right now. I can’t recommend it more highly – especially with the bargain price he’s giving TTPers.]
One of my favorite researchers is Barbara Fredrickson, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. One of her books is Love 2.0, in which she looks at “love from the body’s perspective.” She has been studying how the experience of the emotion of love affects your physiology, including your physical health.You know those small moments of connection? A smile. A hand squeeze. These micro-moments of connection change you for the better in an unbelievable way—not just emotionally, but physically. A single positive feeling between two bodies affects the vagus nerve, which slows your heart and regulates heartbeat. Micro-moments of love are healthy!
--Barbara Fredrickson
We even feel a kind of love in what Fredrickson calls “micro-moments of connection.” The nice conversation we have with the checkout person at the grocery store; the warm greeting of welcome by a new acquaintance at a meeting; even the moment of eye contact with a stranger who holds open a door.
It turns out that these micro moments of connection are actually filled with stuff that is good for us, emotionally, psychologically, and in terms of our overall health… like a good meal is filled with nutrients.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET TOO CLOSE TO A 6,000 POUND ELEPHANT SEAL
The Antarctic island of South Georgia is one of the most extraordinary places on earth. Square miles of king penguin rookeries, thousands of fur seals, hundreds of gigantic elephant seals amidst a backdrop of massive glaciers and snow-capped mountains.
All of the animals here have no fear of you whatever and ignore your presence – except if you make the mistake of getting too close to a bull elephant seal for his comfort. It’s a mistake I made as you can see. Luckily, with several tons of blubber to carry, this fellow can’t move as fast as me, so I hightailed it quickly. That satisfied him, and all was soon back to placidly normal again. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #62 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
NO MORE TEFLON?
FLASHBACK FRIDAY – EVEREST NORTH FACE
My first Everest expedition was in October, 1987. I took this photo climbing above the Rongbuk Monastery. The enormous North Face of Mount Everest is entirely in Tibet. The summit at 8,848 meters/29,029 feet is in the jet stream with the plume flowing left along the Northeast Ridge, the climbing route of Mallory and Irvine in 1924.
On the back side of the ridge is the Kangshung Face, also in Tibet. On the right side is the West Ridge, the border between Tibet and Nepal. At the right time of year, the setting sun turns the whole North Face bright pink. At any time of year on a clear day like this, you are witnessing one of the most magnificent sights our planet has to offer. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #105 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
HALF-FULL REPORT 07/15/22
France’s equivalent to our Fourth of July is Bastille Day, which launched their Revolution on July 14, 1789. As we celebrate with fireworks, so do they – with the biggest in Paris at the Eiffel Tower.
Here’s what they looked like last night (7/14) – and most extraordinarily, the French shared their moment with another nation, lighting up The Eiffel with the blue and yellow colors of the flag of Ukraine.
Let’s stay in Europe for the moment. What the greenie Dutch government is doing to its farmers is depraved and deranged. This is not going to happen. The Dutch farmers will make it by ridding their land of greenie fascism.
So – when do we get to rid our land of greenie fascism? Let’s find out.
SKYE’S LINKS 07/14/22
This explains a lot. 'Crats versus the Constitution. One reason Jack calls Dems AINOs – Americans In Name Only.
U.S. Constitution ‘Racist’ and ‘Sexist,’ Most Democrats Believe
This explains a lot too. Xiden team very short of business experience:
No wonder then. Inflation still getting worse and doing so more rapidly. Using the 1980 calculation method, it is around 16% year over year, which suggest that this is the worst inflation since the War Between The States:
THE NATURAL INFINITY POOL OF SOCOTRA
National Geographic calls the remote island of Socotra off the coast of Yemen in the Indian Ocean “the most alien-looking place on our planet,” because of its incredibly weird and bizarre plant life like the Dragon’s Blood Tree.
Yet it is safely far away from anarchic Yemen, peaceful and serene in its isolation. And it contains places of mesmerizing beauty – like this natural infinity pool on a cliff edge high above the ocean in full view. Socotra is spectacularly exotic, like nowhere else in our world. It is truly life-memorable to experience it. Wheeler Expeditions was there in the Spring of 2014 – and we’ll be there again in the Spring of ’23. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #129 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE DEMOCRATS’ MID-TERM OCTOBER SURPRISE
Democrats are facing their worst political environment in over a decade heading into November’s mid-term elections.
In response, Democrats have desperately tried to change the narrative by focusing on abortion and guns, but that’s gone over like a lead balloon. The economy and inflation are still at the top of any list of concerns.
In short, the fundamentals are just awful for the Democrats. That means they need to do something to influence the election that goes beyond actually enacting good policy, and if you listen closely, you’ll discern exactly what they are preparing.
THE DEMOCRATS’ MID-TERM SUMMER SURPRISE
As the Hunter Biden story continues to explode in scandal and scope, it’s becoming impossible to hide.
As we learned in last Friday’s (7/08) HFR: Joe Biden Sold Nearly One Million Barrels from U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to CCP-Owned Oil Company Linked to Hunter Biden Firm.
Then over the weekend: Shock As 4chan Cracks Hunter Biden’s Phone Password And Leaks Everything. The validity of the hack has been verified by the Secret Service.
Even if Fake News and Big Tech keep up their efforts to suppress it, it’s so vast and egregious that it’s going to erupt into a campaign issue in the fall — and Democrats can’t have that. So here’s what they’re gonna do.