FLASHBACK FRIDAY: THE TURFAN OASIS
The Turfan Oasis in East Turkestan is far older than the Silk Road. Sitting in the Turfan Depression, second lowest on earth at over 500 feet below sea level) with a climate perfect for agriculture (like grapes for wine!), it was first settled by the Caucasian Tocharians some 4,000 years ago.
Over time it was absorbed into various empires ruling the Tarim Basin encircling the empty Takla Makan desert – proto-Mongols, the Tang Dynasty, the expanded Tibetan Empire at its height in the700s AD, Buddhist Uyghurs, and Genghiz’s Mongols. By the 1400s, the people of Turfan were mostly Buddhist or Nestorian Christian. By the end of the 15th century, they were ruled by the Moslem Moghuls who converted them to Islam.
Turfan was a key trading oasis on the Northern Silk Road which Marco Polo’s father and uncle, Niccolo and Maffeo traversed in 1266 to meet Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan. (Marco’s route with them in 1271 took the less-traveled Southern Silk Road underneath or south of the Takla Makan). I traversed both Silk Roads in 2008. Here I am at the Emin Minaret in Turfan. It’s a fabulous place to explore. Maybe some day again? (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #239 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
JUST IMPOSSIBLE!
HALF-FULL REPORT 11/15/24
6:31 PM · Nov 14, 2024
This is only one of a score or more Senate and House races Dems are cheating to win. Watch here as Wisconsin’s Evan Hode explains 4am vote dumps of 108k voting 90% Dem and Milwaukee precincts counting 150 to 200% of registered voters. Similar to what happened to Mike Rogers in Michigan, and Sam Brown in Nevada.
Then there’s Kari Lake in Arizona. Two years ago, she was elected Governor going away – until the Dems’ Cheat-To-Win machine kept counting and counting and counting “absentee” and “mail-in” fraudulent ballots until magically woketard Katie Hobbs won. Same thing this week, with the most corrupt county in the country, Maricopa, claiming countless (pun intended) Trump voters voted for progtard Dem Ruben Gallego instead of Kari.
In the House races, Dem cheating is on steroids. Day after day after day of counting endless fake ballots in dozens of districts, we see the Dem vote inch ever closer to winning. In what should have been a coast to victory for Michelle Steel in CA45, after 12 days of counting with 93% votes in, she’s only 251 ahead out of 300,000 votes so far.
Yes, Trump wins massively, but the Dems are still cheating massively downballot. Lots to talk about. And there's a great way you can help RFK2! Here we go.
HAJJAR QIM
The megalithic temple of Hajjar Qim (hah-jar seem) on the island of Malta in the center of the Mediterranean, was built a thousand years before the pyramids in Egypt. The Stone Age people there made their temples of enormous stones weighing several tons cut from the limestone bedrock with tools of stone and antler horn for they had no metal, and moved them using small round-cut rocks as ball bearings for they had no wheels.
The massive stone I’m in front of weighs over 20 tons. These folks figured out all by themselves how to build these extraordinary temples to their gods and goddesses close to six thousand years ago. Nobody taught them. They were the first.
These ancient temples are only one of the so many things that entrance the visitor to Malta. Medieval walled cities, sea caves of day-glo blue water, sunset dining in fabulous restaurants with great food, great beer, and great wine, luxury hotels made from palaces or palazzos – all at reasonable cost.
90% of Maltese are devoutly Christian, having been so since converted by St. Paul himself in 60 AD. They are warm and welcoming, eager to have you join in the fun of their village festivals. I had such a wonderful time with them when I was first here in 2009 (when the photo you see was taken). I’ve been back twice now and can’t wait to be there again. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #241 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
POSITIVE SUBTRACTION
I met my wife Sue 32 years ago at a Thanksgiving party with some friends of ours. Normally I would have been with my extended family - Thanksgiving was always a favorite of my parents - but this year they hosted our family dinner on Friday instead of Thursday, so other family members could be with their respective in-laws.
Had my parents not changed the routine that year, Sue and I might never have met; we never would have been married, we would never have had our kids, and the life we know would be different in so many ways it’s hard to fathom.
It's pretty remarkable if you think about it, that two people ever meet. But people do, and we did. If you're married, it might be worth considering there’s a chance the two of you might never have met.
Doing this deliberately can also make you happier. Here’s how and why. Oh, I’ve also added a short essay of Jack’s at the end. Even though he wrote it on TTP over 19 years ago, he describes another method of “positive subtraction.”
THE BIGGEST BLUNDER IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS
The biggest blunder in the history of American politics was the premeditated, unabashed, and overt theft of the 2020 presidential election by the Democrat Party, the legacy media, and their fellow left-wing elitists in the Ruling Class. This blunder set the stage for the 2024 Trump landslide and hastened the demise of the Democrat Party and the legacy media.
This cabal further compounded the original blunder of overtly stealing the 2020 election by adopting unprecedented lawfare against Donald Trump, insisting that an obviously addled Joe Biden be the Democrat nominee, ousting Biden four months before the election, and choreographing the nomination of the unlikeable and vacuous Kamala Harris.
This myopic and oblivious faction of the Ruling Class grossly underestimated and misunderstood the depth and breadth of support for Trump in 2020. Despite their legal and illegal efforts to manipulate the voting process, they would fall monumentally short of the anticipated landslide defeat of the incumbent.
BY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH
One of the things commentators have been noticing is the absence (mostly) of any violence or “mostly peaceful” protests following the win of Donald Trump.
Some are questioning why that is and are offering explanations similar to “everyone knew Kamala was unsuitable.
Indeed, Cackling Death was a terrible candidate, but was no worse than His Royal Senescence or any of the numerous other Pokemon that the Democrats have been running.
I say the real reason was that they were unprepared—most on the Left really thought she was going to win.
If the thinkers up top didn’t believe this, they were reserved and were—and are—focusing their energy on what to do the morning after. More on that in a minute.
The election results were met with jubilation by all of the Right and most of the readers here on TTP, understandably.
NewsMax has hailed the results as a “landslide” and others believe it is the end of the progressive liberal era and a sea change in American politics.
I will say I hope so—but I do not believe this election is evidence of that.
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)
COURT VAPORIZES 50 YEARS OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Nuclear blast at the Bikini Atoll 1946. (Credit: Wikimedia, Public Domain)
Yesterday (11/12), the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit summarily vaporized 46 years of Federal environmental regulations.
Writing in a case called Marin Audubon Society, et al v. FAA, et al., the majority of a three-judge panel ruled that the Council on Environmental Quality, a cabal inside the Executive Office of the President charged with ensuring that National Environmental Protection Act requirements are interpreted uniformly across the federal government, had illegally used the Federal Register to publish that guidance thereby giving citizens, agencies, and even the courts the impression that their internal guidance had the authority of law.
The decision was written by Karen LeCraft Henderson (George H. W. Bush) and A. Raymond Randolph (George H. W. Bush) with Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan (Joe Biden) dissenting, and it found:
“As the parties argue the case, it centers on whether the Agencies complied with regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality, an entity within the Executive Office of the President. We will not address these arguments. The CEQ regulations, which purport to govern how all federal agencies must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, are ultra vires.”
Ultra vires means the CEQ was acting "beyond the legal scope of its authority."PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP – THE HITS JUST KEEP COMING
After his historic election win, President-elect Donald Trump promised to hit the ground running.
Boy oh boy, he wasn't kidding.
Trump first tapped his 2024 campaign manager Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff.
The veteran Republican operative – I use that term in a positive sense, here – is a no-nonsense, behind-the-scenes professional.
While Wiles avoids the spotlight, Trump puts his complete faith in her:
“Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns. Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected.
Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again. It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”
Vice President-elect JD Vance said it best in a post to X: "This is great news. Susie was a huge asset to President Trump on the campaign and will be a huge asset in the White House. She's also just a really good person. Onward!"Next up, Trump named former acting-ICE Director Tom Homan as his "border czar."