IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHERE AMERICA IS HEADING, LOOK TO 1453
They say history repeats itself. Properly forewarned, it doesn’t have to.
As Americans prepare to write a pivotal history for the ages this November—one way or another—it might be helpful to take a quick look at an earlier moment in time when a much divided, fractured world faced a pivotal challenge with one man at the barricade and the rest of the world too complacent to help.
Constantinople, the city that Constantine the Great founded in 330 AD and that the Theodosian walls later protected, stood as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire for 1,000 years.
Although the rising Ottoman empire, by 1500, would stretch from the modern states of Algeria to Yemen to Hungary, in 1453, Constantinople was still Christian and a major thorn in the side of Muslim Sultan Mehmed II. He planned to fix that.
By late May, after besieging the city for two months and making no headway, Mehmed prepared to retreat. A small number of his advisors suggested giving the siege one last day before they withdrew. Mehmed agreed, and on May 29, the Ottomans threw everything they had at the city. Constantinople’s defenders repulsed the first three Ottoman assaults, and the Ottoman generals despaired at the prospect of defeat.
But then one of the great turning points in history happened.
WHY DID ZUCKERBERG CHOOSE NOW TO CONFESS?
Consider Mark Zuckerberg’s revelation and its implications for our understanding of the last four years, and what it means for the future.
On many subjects important to public life today, vast numbers of people know the truth, and yet the official channels of information sharing are reluctant to admit it.
The Fed admits no fault in inflation and neither do most members of Congress.
The food companies don’t admit the harm of the mainstream American diet.
The pharmaceutical companies are loath to admit any injury.
Media companies deny any bias. So on it goes.
And yet everyone else does know, already and more and more so.
This is why the admission of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg was so startling. It’s not what he admitted. We already knew what he revealed. What’s new is that he admitted it.
We are simply used to living in a world swimming in lies.
It rattles us when a major figure tells us what is true or even partially or slightly true. We almost cannot believe it, and we wonder what the motivation might be.
THE RIGALEIRA INITIATION WELL
Do an internet search for “25 Most Mysterious Places on Earth” or similar listing, and almost always the Regaleira Initiation Well in Sintra, Portugal will be there. Since the photo is almost always looking from the top down, I thought you might like to see one from the bottom up, which is just as dramatic.
The Regaleira is a spectacular Gothic mansion with acres of gorgeous gardens built by a 19th century Portuguese-Brazilian millionaire, Carvalho Monteiro (1848-1920). I love it that his exotic eccentric extravaganza, his Regaleira Palace, was built by private capitalist with his own money – not some feudal king with money extracted from the peasantry.
I took this picture with fellow TTPers on one of our Portugal Explorations. Portugal really is a land of wonders, which I hope you’ll someday experience with Rebel and me yourself. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #167, photo ©Jack Wheeler)
HILLARY IS GOING TO LOSE
[This Monday's Archive was originally published eight years ago to the day, September 2, 2016. It uncannily matches the same reasons why Kamala is going to lose (and why she may win). Please let your fellow TTPers on the Forum know the extent to which you agree or disagree and why. In the meantime, I can’t wait to see how famed street artist Sabo will portray Kamala 2024.]
TTP, September 2, 2016
What does she stand for? What are the genuine accomplishments in her life? What new innovative ideas does she have to change the current direction of the country that two-thirds of voters think is wrong?Then there are questions of ethics and morality. Ereyesterday (8/28), Roger Simon laid out the stakes:
“The truth about the Clinton Foundation is already clear: a medium to leverage Hillary Clinton's position as Secretary of State for personal enrichment and global control by the Clintons and their allies. To my knowledge, nothing like this has ever been done in the history of the United States government.
This means quite simply, that the United States of America has abandoned the rule of law. The election of Hillary Clinton—our own Evita—will make the situation yet more grave. Consider something so basic as how you raise your children in a country where the president is most probably an indictable criminal and most certainly a serial liar of almost inexhaustible proportions. What does this say about our basic morality and how does that affect all aspects of our culture?”
It’s been a long hot political summer, with the Lying Swine Media in a 24/7 feeding frenzy to demonize Trump and coronate Hillary as having already won before the campaign really begins. As always, summer froth abates over Labor Day weekend, with campaigns beginning in earnest the day after – one week from today, Tuesday September 6th.
So with the LSM predicting the race for the White House is over before it begins, I figure I might as well join in. My prediction is: Hillary is going to lose. She is going to lose, as Dick Cheney would say, “big time.”
Of course I’m going to caveat that big time – I’ve been wrong too many times before not to do that. But let’s set the caveats aside for now. Let’s first count the abundance of ways she’s going down for the electoral count.
HALF-FULL REPORT 08/30/24
The Return of Blasphemy Laws.
As of today, Brazil's Supreme Court has declared that individuals who utilize a VPN to access Twitter/X will face a daily fine of up to $8,874.
The core principles of a free press and the liberty to express one's opinions were initially established to counteract the blasphemy laws that arose during the Middle Ages. The Enlightenment movement aimed to advance human progress by basing knowledge on the new science, rather than on the dictates of power and authority.
However, it seems that those who benefit from positions of power are attempting to reinstate these blasphemy laws, instead of allowing ideas to compete in a fair marketplace.
Globally, from London to Beijing, Ottawa to Brasília, and Washington to Moscow, governments have been taking action against the marketplace of ideas and the liberty of individuals to form their thoughts. These actions seem to be aimed at creating sensational court cases and influencing legal systems by targeting the consequences of free speech. A memo was sent round as governments everywhere fear the possibility of Trump’s return and the freedom of speech that he represents.
These individuals are trying to dominate the narrative and silence opposing voices, thereby undermining fundamental human freedoms, which emphasize reason, critical thinking, and the open exchange of ideas. Their efforts to manipulate public discourse and maintain their hold on power pose a threat to human life and prosperity. If left unchecked, this could lead to a regression into a society characterized by fear and oppression.
Let’s have a look while we still can.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY – A GLACIER IN THE GOBI
June 2002, the Vulture’s Mouth Glacier. In the deepest heart of the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, south of the Flaming Cliffs where Roy Chapman Andrews discovered dinosaur eggs in the 1920s, there is a naked spine of mountains called the Gurvan Saihan. In the Gurvan Saihan there is a deep gorge called Yol Alyn, the Vulture’s Mouth. And in the Vulture’s Mouth, there is a glacier.
It is not a big glacier, the continual ice buildup of a stream that never melts even in the heat of the Gobi summer. Yet it is a glacier nonetheless, thick enough for my son Jackson and I to walk on for more than a mile. The Vulture’s Mouth Glacier is just one of a multitude of extraordinary experiences Mongolia has to offer the explorer. Are you up for exploring it with me this summer of 2025? (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #90 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
INTRODUCING INDEPENDENCE
CHRISTIANITY IN KERALA
In 52 AD, St. Thomas the Apostle, one of Jesus’ 12 Disciples, sailed down the Red Sea and across the Arabian Sea to the Malabar Coast of Southwest India to preach the Gospel of Christ. He found a receptive audience among the peaceful fisherfolk in the villages along the coast – so receptive he established a series of churches that still exist today. Some remain small and humble, others like the one above rebuilt with soaring glass and stone.
There are many Christian denominations in the Indian state of Kerala, which has the entire Malabar Coast, from the original St. Thomas Syrian Christians to Catholic, Pentecostal, Charismatic and others. Of Kerala’s 34 million people, at least 20% are Christian. Kerala is a place of relaxing beauty and peaceful serenity. The best way to explore it is via a luxurious houseboat along the many canals or “backwaters” dotted with fishing villages and churches. You’ll be warmly welcomed. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #155, photo ©Jack Wheeler)
SKYE’S LINKS 08/29/24
Prepare yourself, you may not think it’s possible any longer, but you’re about to be shocked by the corruption on the Left. Trust me. It’s enormous. And it’s not The Big Guy or his family. It’s hers.
There’s good news coming out of Vegas regarding voter registration rolls, some unexpected news coming from the Zuckerboy, and some not particularly surprising news from both France and Russion – oh, how the elites hate free speech from the unwashed masses!
It’s official, now, that Musk will come to the stranded astronaut’s rescue, eventually, which is embarrassing for the developers at Boeing; and another big corporation drops DEI – just before they were exposed. Go woke go broke may not be their fate after all.
Kamala put on a totally staged show for the cameras, but wasn’t smart enough to realize that the real customers she ejected to replace with actors had cameras of their own.
President Trump talks about the assassination attempt, while the people who are supposed to be telling us about it won’t, but damning details keep leaking out anyway.
Not many folks are buying ‘Crat “joy” about inflation; and Chuck Norris proves once again that he’s the manliest man in man-dom. Let’s head into Labor Day with a laugh!
THE MOTHER LEATHERBACK
The leatherneck sea turtle is the world’s largest turtle, weighing up to 1500 pounds. This female was about half that. They have an enormous range, all the way from the North Sea to South Africa in the Atlantic, spending their lives at sea eating jellyfish – except when a female comes ashore to her hatching beach and bury her clutch of eggs in the sand above high tide.
Dropping several dozen glistening white golfball-size eggs into a depression scooped out with her flippers, she covers them up with sand, and heads back to sea, never to see them again. More than two months later, the born hatchlings dig out of the sand and wiggle their way into the sea, where the lucky ones survive.
I was able to watch this mommy’s entire egg-birthing process at dawn on a remote beach in the West African country of Gabon. It was such a privilege to witness an act of elemental nature by such an extraordinary creature. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #127 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)