SAVING SHANGRI-LA
This is Takshang, the Tiger’s Nest Monastery in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. It is as close a place to the Shangri-La of James Hilton’s 1933 classic “Lost Horizon” as you’ll find on earth today. I took this picture in 1990. About three-quarters the size of West Virginia, wedged between China (more accurately: Chinese-Occupied Tibet) and India, the crest of the Himalayas (highest peak: Kula Kangri at 24,773ft.) forming the northern border and steamy jungles the south, Bhutan is known as the Land of the Thunder Dragon. It is almost a mystical experience to drive and trek across Bhutan, to visit its temples and dzongs (castles), to come over the top of a pass and see a village in the valley below surrounded by brilliant green rice fields, the homes with bright red roofs as they are covered with peppers drying in the sun. Bhutanese culture is a unique mix of the ancient Himalyan animism called Bon and Tibetan Lama Buddhism. All Bhutanese men wear a distinctive robe called a gho, while women wear a female version called a kira. There are few people on our planet more peaceful and gentle than the Bhutanese. They love their country and wish above all for it and their culture to be preserved. They are thus at a loss to comprehend a vicious international campaign to destroy it.
A CHRISTMAS LETTER TO ANTI-CHRISTIANS
Merry Christmas. If that offends you, why should I care? It’s your problem, not mine. Let me explain your problem a little more fully. America is a Christian country. It’s your job to deal with that, because you’re not going to change this fact. America has always been a Christian country, and - open wide now, because you’re going to have to swallow this - it will continue to be.It will continue to be because most Americans aren’t Euroweenies. They haven’t lost the moral courage to be proud of their country and their civilization. Notice the “most” - which you are not a part of. You are anti-Christian because you are anti-American. You are anti-American because you are anti-Western Civilization. You are anti-Western Civilization because you are afraid of and intimidated by the envy of the world’s impotent. Fear of being envied defines your soul.
WHAT YOU GET IS WHAT YOU SEE WITH MONITORS – plus a Health Warning and Security Update
Monitors are replete with mysterious-looking numbers and formulas. We pretend to understand them, but how much do we really know? Admittedly, until I began looking for a new one - I’m still undecided - I knew less about monitors than any other major part of a computer. In looking for a new monitor I’ve tried to fill in some of the blanks. I’ll pass the information onto you.
THE SHAMEFUL CRITICISM OF RUMSFELD
[I am so glad Jack Kelly wrote this defense of Donald Rumsfeld - and I am so disgusted at the sudden torrent of Republican criticism of him. Donald Rumsfeld is one of the most heroic figures in the world today, and America is fortunate in the extreme to have him as Secretary of Defense. The temerity of Clueless Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard, professional jerk Senator John McCain, and Senator Trent “Vacant” Lott, calling for him to resign is squalid and shameful. Secretary Rumsfeld deserves our deepest appreciation, admiration, and support. He certainly has that from the vast majority of American soldiers in Iraq. As evidence, I am appending at the end of Jack Kelly’s column, a letter we received from First Sergeant Timmy Rikard serving in Iraq, and who was present when Rummy spoke to the troops there. Every American needs to read Sgt. Rikard’s letter and understand how the liberal media totally distorts what the troops think of their Secretary - most especially Kristol, McCain, Lott and their ilk.- JW] Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld doesn't lack for critics. But his critics soften lack sound judgment. Rumsfeld long has been a punching bag for Democrats and journalists, who wish we had not gone to war with Iraq at all. Lately they have been joined by right-wingers who want someone to blame because we haven't won yet.
THE GLOBAL ELECTRONIC JIHAD
While the West is basking in the tunes of Christmas carols, a different tune is being played by the two leading Jihadi TV channels, al-Jazeera and al-Manar. Little response has come to date from Washington to this 24/7 global brainwashing. Today, al-Jazeera is launching its English language global satellite channel. Al Manar is broadcasting unabated, and its popularity is growing. Al Qaeda is recruiting hundreds, if not thousands, through chat rooms around the world. Jihadi websites are proliferating like poisonous mushrooms, in Arabic, English, French, Farsi, Urdu, Uzbek, and in the languages of the Indian subcontinent and East Asia.
RESUSCITATING RUSSIA
The Soviet Union was merely the Imperialist Empire of Czarist Russia with Marxism-Leninism as its religious justification. This is why the hope that Russians would embrace freedom and democracy once liberated from Communist tyranny in 1991 was delusional. Their egos, so dependent upon being imperialist masters, collapsed once their colonial subjects were free to stop taking their orders.Yet, the frustrating yet, is that anyone who has spent time with individual Russians knows what wonderful people they can be, what good friends they can be. They can be an enigma wrapped in a riddle, as Churchill observed, but they are nonetheless a Western people, a Christian people belonging to Western Civilization. And for that reason, as well as for our own national security, we must now come to their rescue.If we don’t, China will take over most of what is now Russia. A Chinese Siberia will face us across the Bering Straits.
HALE’S QUADRUPLE
I had dinner with well-known global economist David Hale the other night, and investment guru James Dale Davidson. The conversation was literally all over the map, settling on Ukraine and Romania as two of the brightest prospects for locating brand-new investment opportunities. And Iraq.David was particularly excited about a small company that has just made a large deal in Iraq - more precisely, the Autonomous Region of Iraqi Kurdistan. “I know the company’s principals and have been watching it for some time” David explained. “It’s selling for $7. This thing is an easy quadruple.”
WHO NEEDS A CZAR?
As Tony explains here, the just-passed intelligence reform bill is a dog’s breakfast. The best news about its passage is that Duncan Hunter (House Armed Forces Committee Chairman) managed to neuter it at the last moment. By inserting the wording that the NID - the new National Intelligence Director or Intelligence “Czar” -- in carrying out his duties "shall respect and not abrogate the statutory responsibilities of the heads of the departments," Duncan made sure that a good General Counsel from a subordinateAgency/Department can drive a Humvee through an NID directive if need be. --JWSo it is to be a Czar of all the Intelligence Services. All the president's men have engulfed the remaining opposition to the intelligence reform bill and seen it passed with strong bipartisan support. Like its namesake, The Czar of all the Russias, our new czar is likely to begin what will become a very mixed record.
ON A ROLL FROM KABUL TO BAGHDAD
I had a chance to visit with Porter Goss after he returned from Afghanistan last week. He was there to make personally sure everything was solidly OK for Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld to attend Karzai’s inaugural in Kabul.He got the biggest kick when I told him there’s a name in town for what he’s doing to the CIA: Gossification. I got a big thumbs up when I said, “Now we have to make sure Condi gossifies the State Department.”Then he gave his assessment of how we’re doing in Afghanistan: “Jack, I’m telling you, the place is humming, it’s sizzling. People have so much energy, they are so excited about their future. We have a fantastic success story in the making here, a tremendous victory for America and for the Afghan people. Funny how you never hear about it in the media, huh?”Yes, big surprise to the both of us. All we hear about is the latest disasters in Iraq, and nothing about Afghanistan any more - because we’re winning.Porter easily read my mind. “You know, Jack, it’s going to be the same in Iraq. We’re winning - and the media can’t stand it that we’re on a roll from Kabul to Baghdad.”
CONSERVATIVES ON THE NILE
Liberals live in Egypt - on a river called Denial. Yes, it’s an old joke - but it’s to emphasize that there will be no liberals on this adventure. This coming Easter Vacation, I will be taking two dozen conservatives - conservatives only - for a cruise on a luxury yacht to experience the splendor of the Nile. Specifically timed for the week prior to Easter - March 17 to March 26, 2005 - so parents can bring their children, we cruise and dine in luxury while visiting the temples of Karnak and Luxor, the Valley of the Kings with the Tomb of King Tut, the Temple of Horus at Edfu, Aswan and the colossal statues of Ramses and Nefertari at Abu Simbel. In Cairo, we stay at the Four Seasons. Of course we visit the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and the Egyptian Museum - but also Memphis, the capital of Ancient Egypt, and the Step Pyramid of Zoser I at Saqqara (the world’s oldest large stone structure built 5,700 years ago) as well. We’ll have dinner with Egypt’s leading conservative intellectual, Dr. Tarek Heggy, receive a private briefing at the American Embassy, meet with the leaders of the Coptic Christian community, and pray in a Coptic Christian church on Good Friday. By Saturday evening you’ll be back in America to wake up at home on Easter Sunday. Only eight couples and families will be able to accompany me and I am giving first priority to Members of To The Point. Such priority will not last long. The opportunity to participate in this memorable adventure will soon pass. To register, contact us at [email protected]. I know you have promised yourself that “once in my life” you’ll cruise the Nile and see the Pyramids. To be a part of this special experience with your fellow conservatives, we urge you to contact us immediately. The full itinerary, lots of pictures, and booking information can be found at the Wheeler Expeditions website ( www.wheelerexpeditions.com. Just a few days ago, I received a very interesting memo from my contacts within the Egyptian government. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, I’m told, is determined to achieve a breakthrough in Egypt’s relations with Israel, both politically and economically. This is part of Mubarak’s goal for Egypt to have a 21st century economy and peaceful political system. There couldn’t be a more important or exciting time to visit Egypt. I hope you’ll be able to join me to be one of the Conservatives on the Nile.