THE ENCHANTMENT OF POKHARA
Everyone who visits Nepal falls in love with Pokhara. One reason is views of the Himalayas like this from Phewa Lake. You’re only at 2,600 feet while soaring far above you are the world’s 7th highest mountain, Dhaulagiri ((26,795’) to the left, the 10th highest, Annapurna (26,545’) in the center, and the unclimbed sacred peak of Machapuchare (match-a-pooch-a-ree, 23,000’) to the right.
The low altitude gives Pokhara (poke-a-rah) delightful spring-like weather most of the year, the town oozes charm and gracious hospitality with wonderfully fun bar-restaurants like the Moondance Café. As Nepal’s adventure capital, there’s whitewater rafting, tandem parasailing and motorized hang-gliding, as well as the launching pad for Nepal’s most famous trek, the Annapurna Circuit.
Or you can simply relax by the lake or be paddled around it in a canoe for birdwatching. We always end our Himalaya Helicopter Expeditions here, which we’ll do again this coming October. Hard to imagine a better place to unwind. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #295, photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THEY WANT TO SCARE YOU WITH MYTHS OF “UNHAMPERED CAPITALISM”
Bad ideas are sometimes the hardest to dethrone.
It’s probably accurate to say most people think of money as the paper currency printed by governments. And it is money in the sense that it functions as a medium of exchange, but is it sound? Is it vulnerable to inflation?
Its very existence is evidence that it is, so why are so many people reluctant to switch to a money that isn’t?
There any many myths surrounding hard money currencies, and one of them is that money, both its nature and supply, is best left to the alleged guardian of our rights, the state.
The fact that money came into existence on the market, and that its ultimate form and supply were determined by economic law, is disregarded.
Money matters belong to the state because the state, unlike the rest of us, is in a position to remove itself from market discipline. Since the state is necessary to our survival, the story goes, it cannot do its job unless it can control the growth of money.
Money, therefore, must be of such a nature that its supply can grow in accordance with the orders of a state-appointed committee.
Even the classical gold standard was under control of the state.
When that control proved too limited for those eager for war, it was abandoned.
The gold standard did not fail. States failed to keep the gold standard.
THE THEORY OF GLOBAL WARMING VERSUS THE RHYMES OF DR. SEUSS
[Editor: This falls into the “stating the obvious” category – but sometimes the obvious needs stating.]
“How big is the sun?
We just heard right this minute
A million of our earths
could all fit right in it.”
Those words can be found in Dr. Seuss children’s book There’s No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System.
About what you’re about to read, it won’t be a statistical or scientific argument supporting or disdaining the theory that is global warming. No such skills exist to make either, but even if they did exist, the view here is that statistical arguments about anything involving personal freedom are loser arguments.
Think back to the spring of 2020 and the coronavirus to see why.
THE TERRACE OF INFINITY
Over a thousand feet on a mountain ledge above Amalfi on the Mediterranean, you’ll find the Terrazzo dell'lnfinito, considered by poets for centuries the most beautiful view in the world. It is part of the magnificent gardens of the 11th century Villa Cimbrone, in the hilltop town of Ravello, built by the Romans in the 5th century.
The Sorrentine Peninsula is a finger of land south of Naples sticking out into the Med’s Tyrrhanean Sea, off the tip of which is the legendary island of Capri. The main town of Sorrento is on the north side facing Naples and Mount Vesuvius. But it is the steep southern shore of the Amalfi Coast that is our planet’s most spectacularly scenic drive with its ancient ports of Amalfi and Positano.
Exploring this magical part of the world is an ultimate “bucket list” experience. And to top it off, on the way down from Naples, you get to visit Pompeii, the excavated Roman city buried and preserved by the ash of Vesuvius in 79 AD. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #115 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
RONALD REAGAN SPEAKS TO US ON MEMORIAL DAY
To The Point publishes this historic speech by President Reagan on each Memorial Day. This year we need a President like Ronald Reagan more than ever.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY MEMORIAL DAY SKYDIVE
My skydiving buddy Chris Wentzel and I made this flag jump on Memorial Day years ago to pay tribute to those in our military who gave their lives for America. I’m on the right, Chris on the left. The jump was performed at the Skydive Perris drop zone in Perris, California. It’s only fitting I post this on TTP in honor of those whom we memorialize in gratitude on this Memorial Day weekend. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #207 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
POLLS SHOW BIDEN STILL HAS SIZABLE LEAD AMONG THOSE WHO WILL BE COUNTING THE BALLOTS
U.S. — Though some recent data has indicated large percentages of voters are breaking toward former President Donald Trump, new polls show President Joe Biden still has a sizeable lead among people who will be counting the ballots.
Despite continuing to build what at times has appeared to be a massive lead, Trump reportedly still struggles to make gains among the small number of people who are in charge of counting votes in November.
"For whatever reason, he just can't seem to gain traction with people counting the ballots," said political analyst Blake Rumsey of the Institute of Collecting Information. "Even though he has made significant gains among multiple demographics and voting blocks, our polling of people who count the votes shows Biden still holding an obvious lead. Honestly, I don't even know if it's possible for Trump to win that group. They seem pretty devout."
When reached for comment regarding the new poll results, one ballot counter confirmed the data's accuracy. "Yeah, we're all pretty much in the tank for Biden," said the vote counter who requested to have his identity kept anonymous. "I would think that would have been pretty obvious with the way things went in 2020, but yeah. As one of the many hardcore leftists placed specifically in this position to influence the outcomes of elections, I can say confidently that I am voting for Joe Biden. And my vote means a lot, if you get what I mean. We make up the winner. That's what I mean."
At publishing time, the Biden campaign had put in a request to have the Federal Election Commission hire several million undocumented migrants to serve as extra ballot counters in November.
HALF-FULL REPORT 05/24/24
You may never have heard of rappers like Sheff G, Sleepy Hallow, or Forgiato Blow (pictured above), but black kids in the South Bronx sure have, who went giddy with excitement when they turned up at Crotona Park yesterday afternoon (5/23).
Why were they there? To show their support for a Republican billionaire who is turning out to be the greatest political genius of our day. His campaign managers thought it a little crazy – the South Bronx?? – fearing a small crowd would show up, most in protest.
Instead, an enormous crowd of 25,000 wildly cheered him to “Build The Wall!” It was sheer brilliance for him to call up Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow on the stage.
You can only imagine how panic-stricken the Woketard Dems are today. The South Bronx hasn’t voted Republican in 100 years. And Trump is taking it, overloaded by Blacks and Hispanics, by storm. All the while using their multiple-lawsuit lawfare against him to increase his popularity as FJB’s disintegrates.
What we’re seeing here is Trump has grown immensely in political stature while FJB has dwarfed himself into a senile midget. Imagine this…
SKYE’S LINKS 05/23/24
Hang on to whatever you can – this is a full week! It starts with great news from Milei’s Argentina where rational economics is being demonstrated to the world, and a bill to abolish The Fed, finally, here at home! Our Second Amendment rights got another win, though with a sobering caveat, and the Trump trial circus nears its clownish end, at last. One of Fauci’s people brags about how he discarded damning evidence before FOIA requests could ‘harsh his buzz,’ and Progressives of both parties are positioning to insert quotas into every aspect of our lives even as Congress is poised to restore them in College admissions. Wha…? Meanwhile, the GOP is chasing ballots like the Progs this year. Let’s hope they can beat those who count the votes.
More of the Left are beginning to notice the obvious, which is nice (and unexpected), but the Far Left is still as extreme, and fact-averse as ever, even as Biden the Meat Puppet continues to deteriorate. Alabama has joined the Sound Money League and removed taxes on gold and silver, but is it too late? Taiwan installs kill switches into its ASML chip machines to withhold their tech from China if China invades – hopefully a deterrent to China, but not likely; Lockheed’s parking lot for F-35s is filling up because the Pentagon won’t accept them until their (dare I say, Chinese) software glitches are solved; and just like 2020, Biden’s crowds are embarrassingly small, not to say almost nonexistent. Will this year have a different outcome?
The President that we need! Milei is reducing Argentina's far more severe inflation at an amazing rate:
Argentina: Inflation Drops to 8.8%, Reaching Single Digits for First Time in 6 Months
FROM SKYE TO SKYE
Skinigin Village, Loch Dunvegan, Isle of Skye. The Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland is considered by many the most magically entrancing place in all Scotland. From charming fishing villages like here to gorgeously dramatic scenery to famous distilleries like Talisker, you come here for a few days and don’t want to leave the serenity of Skye that captures you.
There could not be a more beautifully opportune place from which to offer my appreciation and gratitude to TTP’s very own Skye, who provides us with his extraordinarily insightful Links and commentary every Thursday. Skye has been one of my dearest friends for well over half a century. I treasure his friendship and am so grateful for his continuing contribution to TTP. So, From Skye to Skye, thanks, compadre! (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #294, photo ©Jack Wheeler)