THE AMAZIGH
They call themselves Amazigh – meaning “the unconquered” – who are the original people of Morocco having lived there for over 12,000 years. You’ve heard of them as Berbers, a name they find offensive. Another people you’ve heard of are the Lapps, the reindeer-herders of far northern Scandinavia, who call themselves Saami.
Astoundingly, they are directly related, for both are descended from the same stock of Cro-Magnon Ice Age hunters in Western Europe that split in two 15,000 years ago – one moving thousands of miles far north, the other thousands of mile south crossing the Gibraltar Strait to North Africa. Geneticists know this because the Amazigh and Saami share the same mitochondrial DNA haplogroup U5b1b. (See Saami and Berbers – An Unexpected Mitochondrial DNA Link, American Journal of Human Genetics, March 2005.)
So when you visit Morocco and meet a gentleman like that pictured above amidst a display of spectacular Amazigh artwork, you’ll know what incredible history resides within him. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #242 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
DOES IRAN REALIZE ITS OWN GROWING DANGER?
Iran understandably believes it is riding quite high.
It is flush with cash. It hints it almost has the bomb—and might use it soon. The Iranians are bragging about their new tyrannical allies like Russia and China.
Iran boasts of now being the self-proclaimed leader of jihad on behalf of all Muslims. It gloats that it is feeding the Russian war-machine in Ukraine by exporting its own drones.
But above all, Iran is giddy over the appeasing Biden administration.
This mollification of Iran also led its appendages Hamas and Hezbollah to believe that if any of them started a war against Israel, then Iran would guarantee their victory, the U.S. would do nothing— and likely force Israel to do the same nothing.
Yet a delusional Iran still is not fully aware how its loud bragging about and support for its client Hamas’s barbaric killing of Jewish civilians have put it into an unprecedented dangerous predicament.
THE GAZA-UKRAINE KREMLIN CONNECTION
On October 7, following the brutal attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict began evolving into a full-scale war. The Kremlin’s propaganda does not hide the fact that this escalation in the Middle East benefits the Russian state. This raises questions as to what real benefits the Israel-Hamas war brings Moscow beyond its use in propaganda.
Russian narratives regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are closely related to the complex situation the Kremlin found itself in leading up to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow used highly controversial conspiracy theories, with anti-Semitic undertones, to justify its aggression. These theories included the idea that the West was determined to destroy Russia at any cost, as it represents the last bastion of Orthodox Christian values resisting globalization (Tsargrad.tv, November 2, 2022).
At the onset of Russia’s invasion, similar conspiracy theories began to proliferate on mainstream Telegram channels. These theories described an alleged Jewish plot aimed at “expanding living spaces at the expense of Ukraine and Russia” (Т.me/kremlinprachka, April 23, 2022).
A foundational myth of Russian propaganda is distinguishing the “good Jews” from the “bad Jews.”
THE POLISH SAVIOR OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
On September 12, 1683, Ottoman Sultan Mehmet IV as the Caliph of all Islam was on the verge of realizing the great Moslem dream of conquering all of Christian Europe for the glory of Allah. The great obstacle in his way – the city of Vienna – was about to be overwhelmed by the Sultan’s gigantic army of 140,000 Islamic Taliban of their day.
On the Kahlenberg hilltop above Vienna, the commander of the Christian forces, King Jan III Sobieski of Poland, gave the order to attack. Twenty thousand armed horsemen galloped down the slopes of Kahlenberg, the largest cavalry charge in history, with the Polish King and his Winged Hussars in the lead. The cavalry trampled the Ottomans and made straight for their camps.
Ottoman commander Kara Mustafa fled out of his tent and barely escaped with his life (it didn’t last long – the Sultan ordered him strangled). With the Christian victory at The Battle of Vienna, the Moslem threat to Europe was over. Sobieski wrote a letter to Pope Innocent XI, paraphrasing Julius Caesar:
“Venimus, Vidimus, Deus vincit” – “We came, We saw, God conquered.”
In turn, the Pope hailed Sobieski as “The Savior of Western Christendom.” Indeed he was, and still is so revered by the Polish people to this day – with no apology.
For the people of Poland stand out among those of all Europe for their pride in being part of Western Civilization – symbolized for them by this statue of their Hero King trampling the Ottomans in the beautiful Royal Baths Park in Warsaw. They will make sure visitors to the statue note that underneath the right forearm of the fallen Turkish soldier is a book – the Koran.
You owe it to yourself to visit Poland and meet the Polish champions of Christian liberty, having freed themselves from the Ottomans, the Russians, and the Soviets. We need more like them today. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #159 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE PERSIAN RATCHET
Tomb of Cyrus the Great (600-530 BC), Pasargadae, Iran
[This Monday’s Archive was originally published on August 18, 2005. This “nutshell history” of Persia is obviously relevant to the current war against Israel being sponsored by Mullah Iran. The links to the secessionist movements in Iranian Kurdistan and Iranian Azerbaijan are still good for these movements are active and growing.]
TTP, August 18, 2005
The war between Persia and the West is very ancient, well over a thousand years older than the war between Islam and Christianity.
Western Civilization originated in a strip of land 90 miles long and 30 miles wide along the Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor (Turkey today) known as Ionia. The Greeks who settled there in the 9th and 8th centuries BC colonized such cities as Ephesus and Miletus, where the first philosophers in history (like Thales, 635-543 BC) offered natural explanations of the world rather than superstition and myth.
The founder of the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great incorporated Ionia within his rule but gave it autonomy. This freedom vanished under the tyranny of Darius I (550-486 BC), Ionia revolted in 502, Darius crushed the revolt, then invaded and attempted to conquer all of Greece.
On September 21, 490 BC, on the beach at Marathon, under the command of the Athenian general Miltiades, the Greeks destroyed Darius’ army, with 6,400 Persians killed versus 192 Greek hoplites.
THE TOMB OF THE FRAGRANT CONCUBINE
Princess Iparhan, granddaughter of the ruler of the Silk Road oasis of Kashgar, was so famous for her beauty and the intoxicating natural aroma of her body that the Manchu Emperor far to the east called for her. She was 22, the year was 1756. The Emperor became completely infatuated with her, making Iparhan his Imperial Noble Consort, loving her deeply until her death 33 years later in 1789.
In mourning, the Emperor kept his promise to her that her body would be returned to Kashgar and buried in the mausoleum of Apak Hoja, built in 1640 by her Apaki family. And there she rests today. Everyone in Kashgar and beyond, however, knows the mausoleum as The Tomb of the Fragrant Concubine.
It’s a wonderfully romantic legend, and even though there are several conflicting versions, let’s hope this one is true. Regardless, a visit to this peaceful shrine is certainly memorable. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #54 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
HALF-FULL REPORT 10/20/23
Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, Australia. Now what might these be. “Ocean Protector” they are labeled. Protector from what? Settle in your most comfortable chair and get ready for an amazingly cool story from this tiny remote island that has 100% relevance to what’s happening to our country right now.
There’s a series of exceptional events occurring in various places around the world this week, the clown show in Washington continues, and you won’t believe who gave the best speech he’s ever made. Jump right on in, the water’s fine.
Just watch out for the Lionfish I spotted – those pretty spines have strong poison in them!
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: WHAT DO YOU SEE HERE?
A young boy playing among rocks on a stream, yes. But where? I took this photo in a nature park in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Gives you a different perspective, doesn’t it? This young North Korean boy, how so innocently playing amidst beautiful streams and waterfalls, has no future except to grow up to be a human robot in subjection to a tyranny. He has no idea of the fate in store for him. That’s why, for me, this is one of the saddest pictures I have even taken.
Perhaps he will escape from his political prison, but the odds are gravely against him. Life does have its somber moments. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #244 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
SKYE’S LINKS 10/19/23
Elon cheers for the Second Amendment. That is a semi-auto Barrett .50 BMG rifle that Musk is shooting. Reach out and touch someone at a mile - if you really know what you are doing. Note: the link has the video clip of Musk hip-firing multiple rounds.
Anti-Gunners About To Meltdown After Elon Musk Says 'Armed Citizens Vital For Democracy's Defense'
The First Amendment is poised to win again, while the Lefts’ contortion of the Fourteenth, along with climate change and net zero are all sinking like the Titanic. And wait ‘till you see how brilliantly Trump is skirting that fascisti judge’s gag order. Ready, set, go for Skye’s Links!