ISRAEL NEEDS ROWDY YATES
TTP, August 22, 2003
You know I’m not Jewish. And I’m not a supporter of Israel for Millennial Christian reasons (e.g., Jews have to get the Holy Land back before there can be a Second Coming). I support Israel because I support Western Civilization, of which Israel is a part and because of which she is under attack.
And also because I think proto-hominids who slaughter women and babies on purpose have no right to exist.
Rowdy Yates was the character played by Clint Eastwood in the 1960s television series “Rawhide in which he played second-in-command of a Texas cattle drive in the 1870s. It was Rowdy Yates’ job to implement the orders of the Trail Boss, Gill Faber, to “Head ’em up, move ’em out” — keep the cattle moving out of Texas and to the railhead in Kansas, fighting off Indians, rustlers, and assorted bad guys in the process.
The Rowdy Yates Solution for the Survival of Israel has three components:
THE PAINTED CHURCHES OF THE TROODOS MOUNTAINS
For 500 years, from Ca. 1000 to 1500 AD, the Byzantine Christians on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus labored with love to decorate the interior of their humble churches tucked away in hidden valleys of the Troodos Mountains.
There are a total of 10 such churches which are today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The one you see here is the church of the Kykkos Monastery, with its extravagantly painted vaulted ceiling preserved immaculately for centuries. Christianity remains very much alive in these mountains. Come here to be awed yourself. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #235 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE CLOWN SHOW
FLASHBACK FRIDAY – DEWAR’S AT THE NORTH POLE
April, 1979 – on the sea ice at 90 North latitude, the North Pole. I was one of the more unusual Profiles for Dewar’s Scotch. It was the 3rd of my 21 expeditions to the very top of our planet. One thing that stood out for me was the photographer brought false ice cubes of carved polished crystal for the photo you see of a glass of scotch perched on a small pressure ridge. That’s the way the pros do it. One genuine item he brought was a case of Dewar’s. We had one heck of a party on top of the world! (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #75 photo of Jack Wheeler)
HALF-FULL REPORT 10/06/23
Ubud, Bali. I’d like to introduce to you Theo Holiday Wheeler, born September 2 at 8.8 pounds, Rebel’s and my first grandchild. We are here at the home of his parents, our son Jackson and his wife Raya.
Theo is the 17th generation of Wheeler sons, starting (as far as our ancestral records show) with Henry Wheeler, born 1503 in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England. This is a thrillingly happy occasion. And frankly, one of R&R for September was, ah, hectic.
The first three weeks we were operating our exploration of the Heart of Central Asia with a wonderful group of exceptional clients. Rebel and I were supposed to get to Bali immediately after, only to learn that the clinic in Lisbon that treats my prostate cancer insisted on a PET scan to locate a growing tumor.
So it was off from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan to Lisbon – they found the tumor, zapped it with precisely targeted radiation, and by last weekend, we made it here to meet Theo at last. Whew. Now I can look forward to being around for at least his formative years (as I’ll be 80 in a month).
So here we go for the HFR – a high hill to climb after Mike Ryan’s astounding last five, especially his series on the Left’s program of Beautiful Trouble.
SKYE’S LINKS 10/05/23
She’s not real. She’s a “virtual girlfriend,” AI designed to provide every fantasy a man could dream of. Enter “virtual girlfriend” in DuckDuckGo or Google and you’ll discover there are an uncountable number of them. Yet another example of the danger of AI replacing reality with fantasy, with real world consequences: AI girlfriends and the subsequent lack of children who would otherwise grow up and pay the bills:
Washington U. Prof: AI Girlfriends Are Ruining a Generation of Men
Welcome to another stirring edition of Skye’s Links! We have news that’s exhilarating, alarming, and informative. Learn what joke’s on Elon! We have to end on a sad note, however, but it’s important for you to know. Jump right on in!
THE FORTRESS OF LUXEMBOURG
Originally built upon Roman fortifications on a rocky promontory in the 900s by the Counts of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg Fortress gained strategic importance located between the French Kingdom and the Hapsburg Empire. By the 1600s it became so impregnable it was called the “Gibraltar of the North.” It was fought over by so many armies that finally, in establishing the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg’s full independence and neutrality in 1867, Luxembourgers agreed to tear it down.
What you see here is what is left, and is now a World Heritage Site. The Chemin de la Corniche – the promenade along the top of the ramparts overlooking Alzette River and the Old City – is renowned as “Europe’s most beautiful balcony.”
Wedged between France, Belgium, and Germany, small 1,000 square-mile Luxembourg is a haven of peaceful beauty. Come here to stand on these ramparts to experience it yourself. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #233 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
SUICIDE OF THE HOUSE
Who was it who said of the Palestinians that they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity? You could say the same of the Republican Party.
By rights, the Democrats should be in disarray. The Biden administration has been a disaster, as pretty much everyone knows, regardless of what some loyalists may tell a pollster. And yet it is the Republicans who can’t get their act together.
Once again, they have bailed out the Democrats with an idiotic vote to oust Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. Only eight Republicans voted for Matt Gaetz’s motion, but of course every Democrat voted to get rid of McCarthy. Whatever their faults, the Democrats have party loyalty, and they know their self-interest when they see it. Unlike many Republicans.
Because while Democrats may be evil, they are not stupid. Like Gaetz Republicans.
XI’S LEADERSHIP IS IN CRISIS: NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT
There is a growing body of evidence that indicates the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership is in freefall. If true, this makes Xi Jinping more dangerous as it increases the likelihood of an attack against Taiwan.
It also means Xi’s regime, the CCP, is extremely vulnerable to pressure from America, and the rest of the free world, to evict them from power.
Xi and the CCP face a deeper problem than the lasting economic downturn in China and myriad of social problems the Chinese regime confronts—problems that cannot be papered over by Xi’s prominence at the BRICS meeting or at any other international fora.
The Chinese regime’s problems are multiple and are the result of a fundamental cause—communism. As such, the Communist Chinese regime is illegitimate and is in a lasting and insuperable legitimation crisis.
The leadership is in crisis for two major reasons:
THE TREE OF JESSE
The Igreja de São Francisco (Church of St. Francisco) was built 800 years ago on a ledge overlooking the Douro River in Porto, Portugal. 500 years later in the early 1700s, the people of Porto devoted themselves to making its interior supremely magnificent.
Most breathtaking is the polychrome wood carving depicting The Tree of Jesse springing from the reclining body of Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David, and showing the genealogy of Jesus through the branches of the tree that are the Twelve Kings of Judah, ending with Joseph and above him the Virgin and Child. Above the Tree to the ceiling is intricately carved woodwork deeply covered with hundreds of pounds of gold leaf.
This masterpiece of baroque art is an awesome tribute to the importance of Christianity to Western Civilization. To experience the power of this masterpiece yourself, come with us on our next exploration of Portugal this coming March. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #234 photo ©Jack Wheeler)