HALF-FULL REPORT 03/01/24
The Eurasian Grand Narrative
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Grand narratives continue to slug it out on the world stage. Russia is pursuing its Eurasian narrative with everything it has. Russians understand the consequences of failure.
CPAC wrapped up in Washington with MAGA left as the nearly uncontested owner of the former Republican party.
Nikki Haley is flaming out badly along with the globalist attempts to compromise with Russia. Our betters vow to continue resisting Russia until Putin accepts their LGBT+ agenda. In exchange, both Republicans and Democrats have radically expanded domestic authoritarianism.
MAGA says not so fast. We are citizens, not subjects in a diplomatic tit-for-tat.
THE HIJACKING
FLASHBACK FRIDAY – MEETING THE DALAI LAMA
Eighteen years ago, October 9, 2003, I had the privilege to meet and have an unforgettable conversation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It was at a luncheon hosted by India’s Ambassador to the US at his residence in Washington. His Holiness loved my telling him how I had passed out over a thousand pictures of him during my three overland expeditions crisscrossing Tibet. “Illegally, yes?” he asked, as the Chinese make this a crime. “Oh, very illegally!” I answered as we both chuckled.
The Ambassador asked where he was born. His answer, “very remote village in far northern Tibet.” He was startled when I interjected, “Yes, I know, I’ve been there – I even bought a doonchen (telescoping 15 foot-long Tibetan prayer horn) in your village.” “A doonchen?” he exclaimed. “You mean…?” and put his hands to his lips to make this really loud WHOOOH like the horn makes. I nodded and did the same, WHOOOH. We belly laughed, while all the diplomats and Congressmen did not know what was going on.
Then he wrapped his hands around mine and I felt an electric energy run through my body. It was his blessing. I will treasure it all my life. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #60 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
AZENHAS DO MAR
A cliff-top fishing village on the Italian Riviera? Nope, Azenhas (ah-zhane-yas) do Mar – Watermills of the Sea – is on the Portuguese Riviera. This is a magic place of fairy tale castles, thousand year-old fortresses, luxury boutique hotels, fabulous food, great wine, gorgeous beaches, and postcard-perfect scenery everywhere.
The Portuguese people are among the kindest in Europe, while Portugal is one of the safest countries in the world. Of all the planet’s First World countries, it’s hard to find one more calm and serene than here.
If you’d like a personal experience of the best of Portugal, Wheeler Expeditions can arrange it for you. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #87 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
SKYE’S LINKS 02/29/24
[There’s LOTS to enjoy in Skye’s Links today, starting with a long-awaited announcement.]
At long last, the Turtle is stepping down, though not immediately:
THE CHRISTIAN KNIGHTS OF MALTA
They look real, don’t they? Ready to defend their Christian land with their lives. We are in the Palace Armory Museum of Malta, where you realize there is no nation on earth more proud of their Christian heritage. It was on Malta in 1565 that a few thousand Christian Knights led by 70 year-old Jean de Vallette defeated in utter humiliation a massive horde of Moslem Ottomans led by Suleiman the Magnificent.
In seeking to use Malta as his launchpad to conquer all of Christian Europe, Suleiman was bitter in defeat: “This cursed island is like a barrier interposed between us and our possessions,” believing that Allah ordained all Christian lands need be taken for Islam by the sword.
Vallette knew what he and his Knights faced: “It is the great battle of the Cross and the Koran which is now to be fought. A formidable army of infidels is at the point of invading our island.”
The incredibly heroic saga of the Knights’ victory is told in The Siege of Malta, on TTP since 2009. What’s critical to understand now is that, after 5½ centuries, the Maltese people are just as proud of their history and Christian heritage as ever. So here’s the question:
What would it mean for you to come to Malta and meet such people yourself? How uplifting and spiritually thrilling would it be for you to take a break from the mental illness of the Woke Anti-Christian culture you’re surrounded by, and immerse yourself in the absolute antithesis of it?
That’s the way fellow TTPers felt when they experienced The Magic of Malta with me in October of last year. And we hope you could join us when we plan to do this again very soon. Trust me, you owe this to yourself. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #264 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE PEOPLE WHO LOOK THE OTHER WAY
[Alexei Navalny gave this speech in a courtroom in 2014. Konstantin Kisin translated it into English because it is so powerful and important for us all, not only the Russians.]
![. Konstantin Kisin translated it into English because it is so powerful and important for us all, not only the Russians.]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F34c4fe54-1141-4e7a-bbfa-4c9f7e89bc3f_1336x24.png){kind=link}
How many times can a man who isn’t breaking the law give his last words? Zero. If he’s really unlucky, once. But over the last two years, I’ve been asked if I have any last words six, seven, maybe ten times.
I’ve heard this phrase many times now: “Mr. Navalny, do you have any last words?” I get the sense that my last words mark the last days for me, for someone, for everyone. I keep being asked for my last words and when I give them, I notice that these last days don’t seem to come.
[Speaking to the judges] If I took a photo of the three of you, or better still, a photo of you together with the counsel for the so-called victims in this case, you are the people with whom I have spent my recent days. I call you “people who look the other way.”1
Do you even notice that you are constantly looking down? You’re looking the other way. I am talking to you but you’re looking down all the time. None of you have anything to say.
[Speaking to the presiding judge] Elena Sergeevna, what is the phrase you keep repeating to me? All of the people I deal with—investigators, prosecutors, prison wardens, civil and criminal judges—you all keep saying the same thing to me: “Alexei, you understand the situation.” It’s true: I understand the situation, but what I don’t understand is why do you keep looking the other way?
JAVIER MILEI ENDED A DC-SIZED DEFICIT IN…NINE WEEKS
Argentina’s Javier Milei is racking up some solid wins, with the fiscal basket case seeing its first monthly budget surplus in 12 years.
Apparently, it took Milei just nine and a half weeks to balance a budget that was projected at 5% of GDP under the previous government. In US terms, he turned a 1.2 trillion-dollar annual deficit into a 400 billion surplus. In 9 and a half weeks.
How did he do it? Easy: he cut a host of central government agency budgets by 50% while slashing crony contracts and activist handouts.
For perspective, if you cut the entirety of Washington's budget by 50%, you'd save a fast 3 trillion dollars and start paying off the national debt.
It turns out it can be done, and the world doesn't collapse into chaos.
THE FOURTH PEARL OF SHING
There is a series of stepping-stone lakes in a hidden valley in Tajikistan known as The Seven Pearls of Shing. This is the fourth, taken at dawn’s early light with the lake a mirror reflecting the sky and surrounding mountains. Each Pearl are of different colors, each of uniquely mesmerizing allure. It is one of the many wonders – natural, cultural, historical – we’ll experience this again soon in our exploration of all Five Stans of Hidden Central Asia. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #52 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
WHAT THE LEFT HAS BEQUEATHED US?
The Left has created new rules for national politics.
Here are 20 some precedents they now have established for America in the future:
1) When in control of the Senate, demand the end of the filibuster; when not, don’t.
2) Call for the end of the Electoral College–but only if it appears to recently favor the candidate of the opposition.
3) In an election year, change any state balloting laws deemed unhelpful through administrative fiat or court order to favor your political candidate.
4) Seek to flip electors from voting in accordance with the popular vote count in their states; indict as an insurrectionist any of the opposition who dare do the same.
5) Raid the home of any opposition ex-president who removed classified files; exempt any sitting president of your party who did the same.