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FLASHBACK FRIDAY – QARI BABA

jw-with-qari-babaAfghanistan, 1984. Yes, that’s me with the legendary Qari Baba, Commander of the Harakat Mujahaddin waging a war of liberation against the Red Army of the Soviet Union – and my dear friend. I told him he looked like a combination of Genghiz Khan and Buddha, and he couldn’t stop laughing. We had so many extraordinary experiences together – like blowing up the Soviet High Command of Bala Hissar in Ghazni.

After the war was won with the final Soviet retreat in February, 1989, Qari Baba became the Governor of Ghazi Province. Then Pakistani Intelligence (ISI) created the Taliban to seize control of the country. Qari Baba had to take up arms anew against them. In March of 2006, he was assassinated by a Taliban hit team on orders from the ISI. I will never ever forget him. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #111 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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DEMOCRATS SOMBERLY REMOVE SOMBREROS SIGNALING END OF SHUTDOWN

This is the latest, and sadly the last of the Schumer Shutdown Dems doing their Sombrero Dance.

With the Senate and House approving a new funding bill and sending it to the White House for President Trump’s signature, a group of top Democrats somberly removed their sombreros to signal the end of the government shutdown.

After holding the country hostage for 43 days and wreaking havoc on the travel industry and other areas of the public sector before caving for no discernible gain for their agenda, Democrats marked the pending reopening of the government by ceremonially taking off their Mexican hats.

"This is indeed a mucho, mucho sad day," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. "We held out as long as we could, and would have been perfectly fine holding out even longer to teach the Republicans a lesson about… something or other… but some of the members of our party decided to break ranks and vote to reopen the government. So, as a way of honoring our great shutdown, we now remove our beautiful sombreros. Farewell, government shutdown! Adios!"

Though he remained under heavy criticism from others within his party for failing to prevent the shutdown from ending, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer showed his solidarity by joining Jeffries in removing his own sombrero.

"I know my colleagues are not happy with me," Schumer said. "But I am still a proud Democrat. Proud to have presided over the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Proud to have stood up to the Republicans and President Trump. And now, proud to honor what we did by removing this fabulous sombrero."

At publishing time, congressional Democrats were reportedly preparing to introduce a resolution to build a bronze sombrero statue outside the Capitol to commemorate the shutdown.

~ Babylon Bee reporting.

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HALF-FULL REPORT 11/14/25

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and his wife and children now have to live in a US military base due to death threats from DemFascists because of his brilliantly heroic ability to speak the truth about them. The same is true for several other Trump officials such as Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, and Kristi Noem.

When hearing the truth for which they have no rational rebuttal, their response is violent rage, which makes them fascists. The Schumer Shutdown’s collapse ended late Wednesday night (11/12) with POTUS signing the funding bill passed by the Senate (60-40) and the House (222-209):

trump-signs-end-gov-shutdown

Michael Goodwin at the NY Post described the moment: Toxic Dems Schumer, Pelosi Get Shut Down – And Trump Stands Tall With One Of His Biggest DC Wins. An enjoyable read.

As will this HFR!  A lot of cool and fun things to talk about – and you won’t believe one of them but it’s true. You’ll probably laugh your head off.  Here we go…

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THE EMPRESS WHO LOVED ACHILLES

achilles-statueOn a mountain top on the island of Corfu in 1890, Empress Elizabeth of Austria built a magnificent marble palace called the Achilleion, dedicated to her hero, the legendary Achilles of Homer’s Iliad. Here she retreated from the world, amidst the palace’s gorgeous gardens overlooking the Mediterranean abundant with larger-than-life statues of her ideal man, “who despised all mortals and did not fear even the gods."

All of Europe knew her as Sisi. Adored by her husband Emperor Franz Joseph I, renowned as the most beautiful – and most beloved -- woman of her time, she was Austria’s Empress for 44 years. Her life ended tragically, murdered at random by an anarchist who wanted to “kill a royal.”

The Achilleion today is maintained immaculately in all its original glory as a museum you can visit. Don’t pass the chance to see it for yourself. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #76 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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GIVE MAMDANI WHAT HE WANTS

free-buses-nyNew Yorkers have handed America’s biggest and most famous city- the financial capital of the world- to a radical Muslim communist, who pals around with Jihadi terrorists, supports “global intifada,” wants to tax whites higher than minorities, and has never held a real job in his life.

New York City is now officially “Kabul on the Hudson.”

Or

“North Korea meets Sharia.”

Aren’t New Yorkers proud? What an achievement. All because the city that used to be known as “the greatest city on the planet” is now filled with a poisonous mixture of young jobless communists angry at living in their parents’ basement, and foreigners who hate the country they invaded, and want to turn us into the failed third world s***tholes they just escaped from.

So, I have an idea. “If you can’t beat them, give ‘em what they want.”

Here is how President Trump can win this battle for the soul of America. Stop fighting the communists and Muslim terrorist appeasers. Give them what they want….

President Trump should declare New York City is now a “ILLEGAL ALIEN FREE ZONE.”

Now many of you are probably thinking I’m planning a trap. Once gathered there, we can send ICE in and arrest them all. After they’ve all gathered in one place, it would be like rounding up and deporting fish in a barrel.

But no, that’s not my plan. Because…

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THAT LINGERING STENCH OF FRAUD FROM TUESDAY’S ELECTION

You'd think Democrats, like terrorists, would up their game once revelations of their tactics became widely known.

But apparently they haven't -- the same old fraud reports are showing up again, in scattered reports from the wake of this week's elections in California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania:

BREAKING - Conservatives are now pointing to inconsistencies in the New Jersey gubernatorial race after nearly 500,000 new voters appeared from 2021 to 2025, more than double the state’s population growth over four years, with almost all of them going to Democrats. pic.twitter.com/TR9qxRePv0

— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) November 6, 2025

This report, in Pennsylvania:

When it comes to blue-state voting foulups, never attribute to stupidity what can be explained by malice. https://t.co/i4igaeGZ7A

— @instapundit (@instapundit) November 4, 2025

Here's another report from both of them:

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THE HEALING POWER OF PLAYFULNESS

Einstein being playful

Einstein being playful

[I cannot recommend Joel’s advice here more highly. After over 40 years, the sort of playfulness he describes continues to make my marriage with Rebel stronger and so much fun. Further, today, Nov 12, happens to be Joel’s birthday... (you can greet him at [email protected]) Joel has been with us since the inception of TTP in 2003. Happy Birthday, Joel!]

A relationship can have complex and unique needs at any given time, so there isn’t really a one size fits all panacea for troubles. But of all the specific actions we can take to improve our relationships, I have found none that apply as often or as effectively as this:

Be playful.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But it’s more challenging than meets the eye, and there are clear guidelines for it to work:

We have to approach play as allies, as a member of the same team; we have to be for our spouse, our child, our friend, our co-worker; and the play must have a spirit of love, kindness and optimism, as opposed to cynicism or sarcasm. There cannot be bitterness or resentment clouding the play; it’s the combination of creative, interactive flow and positive emotions that elevates us.

If you’re up for the challenge, you’re in for some pleasant surprises.

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THE RACE FOR THE TRUMP ECONOMY

The current economic indicators, at least those attributable to the 10-month Trump administration, are strong.

Fourth-quarter GDP is estimated to grow between 2.7 and 4 percent, the robust latter figure according to the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank.

Inflation from June to August ranged from 2.7 to 2.9 percent, significantly lower than the 5 percent annual average during Biden’s 2021-2025 term.

Gas prices now average $2.98 per gallon, compared to $3.46, the average cost during Biden’s four years.

In less than a year, Trump has increased oil production by one million barrels per day.

Unemployment in the second quarter of 2025 stayed steady at 4.2 percent, roughly the same as the 4.1 percent during the final month of Biden’s tenure.

The stock market has reached an all-time high. Foreign investment is pegged at record levels. Tariff revenue could reach $400 billion by the end of the year—vastly outpacing the $77 billion in all of last year, 2024.

In other words, the economy is rolling along.

To the extent the Trump administration has a problem with the economy, however, it is threefold.

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LUANGWA LAGOON SUNSET

luangwa-lagoon-sunsetIt’s hard to find a better example of the glory of nature than here – a lagoon off the Luangwa River in Africa’s Zambia. It’s also hard to believe I took this picture just a few days ago – and now I’m back home, and Africa so far away.

It was so fulfilling, so rewarding for me to provide a life-memorable experience of real Africa to eight TTPers – they’ll never forget it ever. There’s a primordial magic in Africa that grips your soul like nowhere else. The wisdom of those most familiar with the world is: “If you can visit only two continents in your life, go to Africa – twice.” How about the Serengeti Safari of your dreams with Rebel and me next year: Serengeti Luxury Birthing Safari-2026? (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #145 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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INDIAN TIBET

ladakh

There is a part of Tibet the British kept from China and is now a part of India. The region is called Ladakh and this is its capital of Leh. It’s the Upper Indus river valley after it flows out of Chinese Tibet and before it reaches the Line of Control with Pakistan.

Ladakh is geographically and culturally Tibetan, where Tibetan culture still flourishes. Here the great gompas (monasteries) of Thikse and Hemis are active, and where you are welcome in hidden mysterious gompas like Lamayuru over a thousand years old.

There is an ultra-remote part of Ladakh called Zanskar where the Zanskar River flows through the crest of the Himalayas to reach the Upper Indus. Running the Zanskar is one of the world’s greatest whitewater experiences. We’ll see and do all of this next year on our Indian Tibet 2026 Expedition. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #120 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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VETERANS DAY, ARMISTICE DAY, ST. MARTIN’S DAY

November 11th, a single square on the calendar, carries three names and three lessons for the modern West.

Veterans Day, honoring those who fought for our Republic.

Armistice Day, marking the end of the First World War, so cataclysmic its survivors called it simply The Great War.

And St. Martin’s Day (or Martinmas), an ancient Christian feast commemorating Martin of Tours — the Roman soldier who laid down his sword for Christ and spent the rest of his life fighting a greater battle for souls.

Three observances. One date. One truth: civilization survives because virtuous men step forward to bear its burdens.

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THE END IS NEAR – IN TEHRAN

Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.

— Deuteronomy 11:17

Mother Nature may accomplish something that neither the U.S. nor Israel could ever have contemplated: the evacuation of Tehran's 9.7 million inhabitants.

Iran is currently experiencing its fifth consecutive year of drought, and the autumnal rainfall is about a quarter of that in 2024, that would be two millimeters.

In short, Tehran is facing a “Day Zero” catastrophe.

“Zero day” is probably shortly after January 1.

“Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s president, warned on Thursday that if the drought persisted more than a month longer, “we’ll have to evacuate Tehran.” Mr. Pezeshkian has not explained how such an evacuation would be managed.

Mr. Pezeshkian has warned about Tehran’s water crisis for months, and has even promoted moving the capital south, closer to the Persian Gulf, where there is “access to open waters.’”

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SQUARE PEGS AND SUCH: A TTP BULLETIN

technical-debtTTPers,

The TTP Forum has been offline for several days due to what software engineers call technical debt. This means the slow accumulation of outdated software that eventually stops working when the world around it upgrades. Our site runs on WordPress 4.6.1, which is a content management system (CMS) that handles everything from publishing articles to running the discussion forum.

WordPress is built on a programming language called PHP, which is short for Hypertext Preprocessor. PHP runs on the web server and generates the pages you see in your browser.

Here’s the issue: the version of WordPress we’re using was written to work with PHP 4.6.1, a version released almost a decade ago. Our hosting company recently upgraded to a newer PHP environment for speed and security reasons. That’s good for the modern internet, but bad for older websites.

Many of the WordPress plug-ins (small software modules that add features like logins, forums, and security filters) depend on PHP functions that no longer exist in the latest releases. When the server runs the new code, these old plug-ins simply break.

Fixing it takes time. Each plug-in and custom script has to be reviewed, rewritten, or replaced with something compatible. Once that is done...

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THE GREEK GODS OF SICILY

the-greek-gods-of-sicily

The Ancient Greeks began settling in the Mediterranean’s largest island around 750 BC. They called it Sikelia, after the Sikani and Sicel tribes that lived there. They flourished, building numerous cities, all with temples to their Olympian gods. The city of Akragas – now called Agrigento on the south coast – grew to a population of 200,000 by the 500s. It was here that the Greeks built the most outstanding examples of monumental Greek architecture that still exist today.

Along a ridge outside the city, they erected temples to Zeus, Hera, Heracles (Hercules) and many others. The one you see here the Romans called the Temple of Concordia (harmony), for by the time they showed up in the 200s, the Greek name was lost. In the foreground lies a remnant of a bronze statue to one of the Greek gods – perhaps Apollo. The glory that was Greece has been gone with winds of millennia. It can be a very emotional experience to be here. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #248 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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MARX AND MOHAMMED

marx-and-mohammed

[This week’s Archive was first published on September 1, 2005. Twenty years ago, it would have been deemed deranged to even imagine that New Yorkers would elect a Moslem Nazi as the mayor of the city where his religious predecessors committed the terrorist atrocity of 9-11.  That he would also be a Marxist Communist would make it a Kafkaesque lunacy.  Yet precisely this happened six days ago (11/04).  The relevance of this analysis is now crucially clear as the foundation of understanding what just happened in New York City.]

 

TTP, September 1, 2005

I was recently asked what might be the common ground between the Radical Left and Radical Islam. Let’s expand on that and discuss with you the extraordinary extent to which Marx and Mohammed are ideological brothers.

In fact, they are much more than that. Marx and Mohammed are metaphysical brothers. They share the same view on the nature of reality. Their fundamental bond is a denial of the Law of Non-Contradiction.

Far more than a rule of logic, this is a basic statement of the way reality works. It was first put into words by Aristotle:

It is impossible for the same attribute at once to belong and not to belong to the same thing and in the same relation.” Metaphysics 1005b20.
Contradictions exist only between thoughts, not in the world. This is also known as “common sense.” Both Marx and Mohammed disagree.

That reality is contradictory is the basic tenet of Dialectical Materialism – the philosophy of Marx, Engels, and Lenin – and of philosophical Islam, for which it is blasphemous to claim Allah is subject to the Law of Non-Contradiction as that would limit and bind him in the chains of logic.

If reality is contradictory and logic is an illusion, then you are left with only one way to resolve conflicts and disagreements: violently.

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