THE SANDS OF THE TAKLA MAKAN
When Marco Polo crossed the Tien Shan mountains and reached the Silk Road oasis of Kashgar in 1273, he faced an enormous desert of endless dunes called the Takla Makan, meaning “You go in, you don’t come out.” To avoid this fate, the Silk Road at Kashgar splits in two – above to the north of the dreaded sand sea via the oases of Aksu and Turfan, and underneath to the south via the oases of Yarkand, Khotan, Charchan and Charklik. The two routes came together beyond Lop Nor, the eastern extension of the Takla Makan, at the oasis of Dunhuang.
His father Niccolo and uncle Maffeo had earlier taken the northern route to first meet Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan, but now with Marco they took the southern route. They traveled in caravans of two-humped Bactrian camels, often crossing dunes on the edge – just like the photo you see. In 2008, I retraced Polo’s route along the southern route – part of it by motorized hang glider. He would be fascinated, I’m sure, to see what a camel caravan looks like from the air! (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #13 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
“I STAND WITH PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP”
On Sunday (1/03), the first action of the 117th Congress, having just been sworn in, was to pass by voice vote, this Concurrent Resolution. Let’s read it carefully. It’s Pence’s path to do what’s right tomorrow.
THE PUSSIFICATION OF AMERICA
The year 2020 witnessed a long series of writs lodged against an America beset with plague, quarantine, recessions, riot and arson, and the most contested election since 1876.
What was strange was not so much the anarchist Left’s efforts in the present to wipe away the past to recalibrate our Animal Farm future.
What was stranger were both the absurdities of the complaints against American civilization, and the unwillingness or inability of Americans to rebut them and defend their own culture. Call it the Pussification of America.
THE HYPOGEUM OF MALTA
The extraordinary rock-cut necropolis known as the Hypogeum (hi-po-gee-um) is the only prehistoric underground temple in the world. For over a thousand years (3500-2500 BC), the temple and burial complex (eventually housing 7,000 skeletons) was carved out and down – dozens of chambers, with rock-cut replicas of above-ground temples including simulated corbelled roofs. (A corbelled roof uses stone slabs that progressively overlap each other until the room is roofed over.)
The Megalthic Maltese learned to cut from the limestone bedrock with tools of stone and antler horn for they had no metal. These folks figured out all by themselves how to build extraordinary temples to their gods and goddesses close to six thousand years ago. Nobody taught them. They were the first. Only one reason Malta is one of our planet’s most fascinating places. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #109 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
PROTECTING THE SANCTITY AND VALUE OF EACH AMERICAN’S VOTE
More than 74 million Americans who voted for President Donald Trump have justifiably lost confidence in the electoral system because election laws in decisive battleground states were ignored or altered outside of the legislative process.
Tennesseans elected us to fight for their views and values in Washington, which certainly means upholding the rule of law, and we plan to exercise our constitutionally prescribed role of reviewing the electoral college results to ensure that those voices we represent are heard.
Understandably, Americans are questioning the results of an election in which the laws designed to ensure fair and secure voting were rewritten at the last minute by unaccountable bureaucrats who had no authority to do so.
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)
NOSTALGIA FOR 2020?
HALF-FULL REPORT 01/01/21
Welcome to the HAPPY NEW YEAR HFR!! More accurately, From Out of the 2020 Frying Pan and Into the Fire of 2021. At this point, we now know how those who conducted the French Revolution felt about guillotining their rulers.
That should be the fate of every traitorous Deep State scumbag – from the entire senior staff of the FBI and DOJ, every talking head at CNN, every editor at WaPo and the New York Times, every arch-villain of Big Tech like Dorsey and Zuckerberg, every perp of the Russia Collusion Hoax from Brennan and Comey on down, to the entire leadership of the Democrat Party.
That’s a fantasy, of course -- but it exemplifies the bottomless rage scores of millions feel towards the Traitor Fascists determined to steal the presidency and destroy our beloved country.
So we come to history’s pivot five days from now, Wednesday January 6, and one man’s rendezvous with destiny.
SKYE’S LINKS 12/31/20
Here is an outstanding year-in-review of 2020. Lots here for both investors and historians alike. It was written by a tenured 60-something conservative/libertarian chemistry professor, so the BS content is remarkably low. This is fascinating stuff from someone who works within the belly of the beast:
Dave Collum's 2020 Year In Review, Part 1: "Willfully Ignorant"
An interesting review of the past year and the shape of things to come for international investors:
The 10 Most Important Changes Of The Past Year
A 2021 wise warning for everyone:
Delingpole: Economist 'Great Reset Will Cause a Crash Worse than 1930s'
Goodbye 2020 – hello 2021!
HOW AMERICAN MYTHS WERE RAVAGED IN 2020
Thanks in large part to Democrat lockdowns, this year has left vast wreckage in its wake, with ten million jobs lost, more than 100,000 businesses and dozens of national chains bankrupted or closed.
Up to 40 million people could face eviction in the coming months for failing to pay rent, and Americans report that their mental health is at record low levels. But the casualty list for 2020 must also include many of the political myths that shape Americans’ lives.
Perhaps the biggest myth to die this year was that Americans’ constitutional rights are safeguarded by the Bill of Rights. There are many more.