HOW PAIN IS COMING FOR THE DEMOCRATS
Early in Donald Trump's second term, reforming the bureaucratic state has become job number one. That's not surprising given the weaponization of government that personally targeted the president for years on end, doing everything it could to prevent him from ever returning to the White House.
Enter Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency has been hard at work uncovering the waste and abuse of taxpayer funds.
Unsurprisingly, that has sent Democrats into an apoplectic rage. That's because when they lose elections, they aren't supposed to actually lose.
With their power structure now being threatened, Democrats are lashing out, and unsurprisingly again, some lower-court judges are more than happy to play along with their gambit.
We'll see where this goes, but I'm going to make a prediction: Pain is coming for Democrats.
THE FLATTEST PLACE ON EARTH
The Salar de Uyuni, 12,000 feet high in the Altiplano of Bolivia, is a 4,000 square mile expanse of salt so flat it is used to calibrate the altimeters of NASA observation satellites of the earth. After a rain, it becomes the world’s largest mirror, 80 miles across. The incredible reflective surface extends to the horizon in every direction – it is both hallucinatingly disorienting and makes for amazing mirror-to-horizon photos (especially at sunrise/sunset).
The brine underneath the salt crust contains 70% of the world’s lithium – critical to our battery-fueled global economy – produced in evaporation pools that are a kaleidoscope of colors.
You can stay here in relative luxury at one of the world’s most unique hotels – the Palacio de Sal, built entirely of salt: walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, sculptures. Being here is one of South America’s more astounding experiences. Let me know if you want a Wheeler Expedition to take you there! (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #39 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
NO FEAR OF THE EVIL EYE: ENVY AND BLACK MAGIC
Tiji Chasing of the Demons Ceremony, Tibetan Kingdom of Lo ©Jack Wheeler
[This is the next chapter of Part I: Envy of my forthcoming book NO FEAR OF THE EVIL EYE: Key to Freedom, Peace, and Prosperity. Previous sections and chapters can be accessed here. I will really appreciate any feedback you have.]
It took me a year to get the book – the American edition finally came out in 1970.[1] I immediately recognized it was a work of prodigious scholarship encyclopedic in scope. Schoeck’s research of anthropological field studies of traditional cultures across the globe was exhaustive.
I learned that the Jivaro belief that death is always murder was in no way unique – a lack of the concept of natural death, that death was always malevolently perpetrated by demons, sorcery, or physically for real, was prevalent among the majority of traditional cultures, whether in the Amazon, Africa, or the Pacific.
It’s commonly understood that the lives of people in traditional or peasant societies everywhere is suffused with superstition. The world for them is teeming with demons, spirits, ghosts and gods, all of whom are malicious, dangerous, and must be placated.
But why are they so malicious? Why are they out to get us, instead of being on our side? Why do they have to be constantly appeased? Let’s go to a remote Tibetan Kingdom to find out.
WHY?
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: AFGHAN MUJAHADDIN?
When my son Brandon was a cadet at Virginia Military Academy, his professor teaching Modern Military History gave a lecture on the 1980s War in Afghanistan fought by Afghan Mujahaddin against the Soviet Red Army occupation of their country. One of the pictures he showed was the one above of “three typical Mujahaddin fighters.”
Brandon raised his hand. “Yes, Cadet Wheeler,” the professor called on him. “Actually, Professor,” Brandon said, “only the man in the center with the white beard is one. The man on the right is United States Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, while the man on the left is my father.”
The professor was stunned while the rest of the class stifled laughter. “Are you quite sure of that, Cadet Wheeler?” stammered the professor. “Oh, yes sir,” Brandon replied. “I recognize my own father. That photo is framed in my father’s study. It was taken in November 1988. The Afghan Commander’s name is Moli Shakur. I have known Congressman Rohrabacher all my life.”
The cadets all applauded in appreciation. To this day, this remains one of Brandon’s fondest college memories. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #145 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
HALF-FULL REPORT 02/07/25
Among all those who celebrated their failure was Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, so demonized for being courageously rational. Once again, Democrats and their media shills are left gasping for breath in a state of chaotic confusion.
But not all Dem media cheerleaders are confused. Long time TTPer Michael Brissette tipped us off about a must-read in last week’s issue (01/29) of The Atlantic: It’s Not Amateur Hour Anymore by savvy deepstater Paul Rosenzweig.
So it’s also no accident that the Dems are literally, actually, losing their minds. Remember the old maxim, “Democrats are the Evil Party, Republicans are the Stupid Party”? Well, this week we saw the Dems become both evil and stupid.
This is an HFR to savor. Let’s go!
WINTER WILDFLOWERS
We’re in Portugal preparing for our WWX Portugal Exploration 2025 (May 2-11) where it’s sunny, clear, 63 degrees, and wildflowers are everywhere. Lisbon, by the way, is at the same latitude as Washington DC where it’s freezing tonight. (Not many know how far north Europe is – Rome, Italy for example, at 41°53’ North latitude, is north of New York City, at 40°44’N.)
The weather here is as benign as the culture. Portugal is consistently in the top five of the safest, most peaceful and crime-free countries on the planet. There is a total absence of divisiveness, anger, and woke insanity in this country. It is normal in the way America used to be and T47 is doing his best to be again.
We all, of course, hope and pray for his success in the not-distant future. But if you’d like to experience normality right now, with extraordinary history, spectacular beauty, and fabulous food and wine thrown in, join Rebel and me on our WWX Portugal Exploration 2025. You’ll have so much fun with your fellow TTPers! (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #256 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
TWO ODES TO TRUMP
[TTPers know that beloved TTPer Yasuhiko Kimura has Stage 3 Esophageal Cancer. Many of you have already been kind enough to donate to the Help Yasuhiko Genku Kimura Heal from Cancer GoFundMe, for which he and his wife Mira Joy are deeply grateful. A fight for life often brings out talents unknown before. Thus Yasuhiko, a devotee of history’s great poets, has become a poet himself.
He has gifted us with Two Odes to Trump, one in the style of England’s most famous, John Milton (1608-1674), the other in that of England’s most idiosyncratic, William Blake (1757-1827). The common bond between them and Donald Trump is all three are champions of freedom. Thank you, Yasuhiko! Our prayers are with you.]
Miltonic Ode to Trump (Written in the political spirit and the poetical style of John Milton) Yasuhiko Genku Kimura
Of Man's first Freedom, and of Liberty, Through ages dim, where tyranny did dwell, I sing of Trump, whose valiant spirit free From despot's grasp, did lead with wisdom's spell
TRUMP IN GAZA: HIS FOUR-STAGE PLAN TO REPLACE TYRANNY AND TERROR WITH PEACE AND PROSPERITY
Looks like a job for Trump the Builder
For how much longer will the world’s conscience now allow for two million people to be held hostage by Hamas, crammed into a 140 square mile Strip, stuck between the sea and two countries who will not let them enter: Egypt and Israel?
I was in Israel on October 7 and share the trauma of a nation under attack from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and others. Now,
Hamas has vowed more October 7 attacks.
No nation in the world would accept a permanent terror base on its border, with over 200 miles of tunnels hiding weapons and training for destruction.
In this context, it would be Einstein’s definition of madness to try all the old options all over again in Gaza. Now it is time to think differently, as Trump 47 certainly is. And in so doing, he is fully aware that we cannot be cruel to the Palestinians. That they are a people who deserve homes, dignity and peace.
THE MYSTERY OF THE REEF OF HEAVEN
In a remote corner of the Pacific Ocean, off the island of Pohnpei in Micronesia lies one of the world’s great archaeological mysteries: the only ancient stone city built on a coral reef. No one knows who built it or how.
Micronesians say their ancestors called it Soun Nan-leng, The Reef of Heaven. Their name for it today is Nan Madol, the City of Ghosts.
On artificial islets connected by a series of canals are massive walls up to 25 feet high enclosing temples, tombs, ritual centers, and platforms for thatch homes – all made of giant columnar basalt stone. Eons ago, lava flows on Pohnpei cooled into vertical pillars. Over a thousand years ago, ancient Micronesians began hauling these basalt logs miles away to build this stone city. With an average weight of 5 tons, 10,000 pounds – and some up to 25 tons, 50,000 pounds each – how they did this remains unexplained. It lies deserted today, abandoned and lost for centuries.
Paddling a kayak through the canal maze of Nan Madol to clamber over these monumental stone complexes in solitary silence – for visitors are rarely here – leaves you in a state of unforgettable awe. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #6 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)